Beyond The Valley has been selected as the first of ten festival events in Victoria to take part in the state government’s pill testing trial.
Premier Jacinta Allan and Minister for Mental Health Ingrid Stitt visited Melbourne Showgrounds to announce the service will be available to an estimated 35,000 festivalgoers at the festival which is taking place in the Golden Plans Shire from 28 December to 1 January – making it the largest-ever event in Australia to provide access to pill testing.
The government also announced a consortium led by Youth Support and Advocacy Service, in partnership with The Loop Australia and Harm Reduction Victoria.will deliver the mobile pill testing service.
Melbourne Health, Youth Projects and Metabolomics Australia (University of Melbourne) will partner with the consortium to deliver medical support, social services and secondary and confirmatory testing of substances.
The service will be completely confidential, and the world-leading technology used will be able to test the make-up of most pills, capsules, powders, crystals, or liquids and identify harmful chemicals that can lead to death.
The service will be staffed by a multidisciplinary team of experts that will not only test substances, but also provide confidential health information to help people at the festival make better, safer decisions.
A fixed pill testing site will also be established and open by mid-2025 in inner Melbourne, close to nightlife and public transport.
The trial follows the recent passing of the Drugs, Poisons and Controlled Substances Amendment (Pill Testing) Bill 2024, which made Victoria the first jurisdiction in Australia to have dedicated legislation to support pill testing.
Premier Jacinta Allan said it is a simple and common-sense way to save lives.
“Let’s be clear: no drug is safe, but people deserve to know if that one pill will kill,” she said.
