Harm-reduction advocates could target Ballarat's newest music festival for their next pill testing push, but the state government and Victoria Police are sticking to their hard-line drug stance.
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Spilt Milk music festival will be held for the first time in Ballarat on November 30 at Victoria Park, attracting up to 25,000 festival-goers.
Harm Reduction Australia president Gino Vumbaca said the organisation would consider approaching Spilt Milk organisers and the Victorian government about running a free pill testing trial at the festival in Ballarat.
In a statement to The Courier, Spilt Milk organisers said the festival supported 'evidence-based harm reduction activations'.
Pill testing is well-established in Europe and the United Kingdom and has run as a trial at Canberra Groovin the Moo festivals in 2018 and 2019.
See who is playing at Spilt Milk here.
The service allows festival-goers to provide a sample of a substance they may be considering taking to be analysed, identified and discussed with a healthcare professional.
The state government has reaffirmed its strong stance against it, saying there are no plans to allow pill testing at events in Victoria.
Victoria Police maintains pill testing can give people a false and potentially fatal sense of security about illicit drugs.
City of Ballarat said in a statement "we will be guided by the experts in this area, Victoria Police".
But Mr Vumbaca and other harm-reduction advocates, including former Buninyong MP Geoff Howard, will continue to push for its trial in Victoria 'to help make sure young people get home safely from music festivals'.
"We have seen the unfortunate case of five deaths in NSW that were festival-related and we see a number of overdoses that occur at festivals. We are not suggesting we can solve all of those issues but we can certainly mitigate the harm that is occurring," Mr Vumbacca said.
"There is evidence to prove pill testing has an impact on people's drug-using behaviour. They either don't use the drug after it has been tested or they use less."
Mr Vumbaca said the actual testing of the drug is only a small part of the pill testing service, as one of the main aims was to begin a conversation about drug use with those who present.
"People are with harm-reduction workers, drug and alcohol professionals and health professionals for 15 to 20 minutes and they are talking with our staff the whole time, getting a lot of information about drug use they may have never received before because they are often naive or occasional drug users who don't interact with drug and alcohol services," he said.
"The main point for us is that we are connecting with people and talking to them about their drug use."
In 2017, the Spilt Milk festival in Canberra was set to be the first legal pill-testing trial in Australia, but the trial was cancelled six weeks out from the festival due to issues with approvals.
Spilt Milk is hosted at Commonwealth Park, land controlled by the National Capital Authority, a federal government authority. The National Capital Authority has said it will not allow pill testing on Commonwealth land, despite approval from festival organisers and the ACT government.
Groovin the Moo Canberra became the first festival in Australia to host a pill testing trial in April 2018, as the festival was hosted on ACT-government owned land, and a second trial was at the festival in 2019.
Both were run as a free trial by Harm Reduction Australia, a not-for-profit body that had committed to running one free pill testing trial in each state and territory.
Mr Vumbaca said both trials in Canberra had proved pill testing worked. He said he was expecting the ACT government to put a regular pill testing program in place once the independent report on the 2019 testing service was released.
The ACT is the only Australian jurisdiction to accept a pill testing trial.
"My advice to Victoria is to consider our offer of a free trial," Mr Vumbaca said.
"We have spoken to the Victorian government a few times offering a free trial, even once with a festival promoter as a co-signatory offering to run it, but as of yet the Victorian government has declined the opportunity."
Mr Vumbaca explained for pill testing to be held in Victoria, at a location such as Spilt Milk Ballarat, permission from the state government, festival organiser and landowner would be required.
"In Canberra, we provided a full proposal to the government for consideration with operational plans, risk assessment plans, insurances, details of staffing, details of processes, exactly what we do and how we do it," he said.
"We had a letter of support from the festival promoter and from the landowner. When our proposal was approved we entered into discussions with police and health services about how we operate and any protocols needed, particularly with the police about how they manage us being on site at a festival."
Despite retiring from politics, former Buninyong MP Geoff Howard said he would continue to advocate to members of government for consideration of a pill testing trial in Victoria.
Mr Howard chaired a state inquiry into drug law reform that recommended the Victorian government create an Advisory Council on Drugs Policy in March, 2018.
It recommended the government request that the advisory council monitor overseas and domestic models to gather evidence to inform consideration of a pill testing trial in Victoria.
Mr Howard attended a meeting in Melbourne last week with other supporters of pill testing and discussed advocating to the government for the establishment of such an advisory body.
"I hope there can be a change of position from the government to be open to testing these ideas," he said.
"From my point of view, the key thing is to be open-minded and look at the evidence on both sides of pill testing.
"There are a lot of people invested in this issue - not just the people who attend music festivals. It is also family members of people who attend.
"I am expecting to advocate for some time and am happy to work with groups and individuals that want to progress this issue and offer my support."
Lexton music festival Rainbow Serpent organisers have said they are open to hosting pill testing for more than two years.
"We back any evidence-based harm-reduction strategy that will create better outcomes for our patrons. Right now there is no argument among experts that pill testing is by far the best option we have," Rainbow Serpent communications director Tim Harvey said.
Tickets for Spilt Milk Ballarat are available for Ballarat residents at a pop-up at Hop Temple from 5pm on Sunday, June 9.
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Rochelle Kirkham
Rochelle covers court and has a particular interest in social issues including homelessness, food security and family violence.
Rochelle covers court and has a particular interest in social issues including homelessness, food security and family violence.
