Pill Testing Australia confirmed that pop-up drug testing will return to Spilt Milk this Saturday. Photo: File.
Pop-up drug testing will go ahead at this year’s Spilt Milk on Saturday (25 November), marking the first time pill testing has been available at an Australian festival since Groovin the Moo in 2019.
Pill Testing Australia confirmed on social media that it will offer the free and confidential service to festivalgoers.
“We’re heading to Spilt Milk Canberra to provide free pill testing services for patrons,” it said.
“We are the only organisation to have provided pill testing services at Australian festivals and are able to do so thanks to our incredibly committed team of qualified health, medical and analytical volunteers.”
Pill Testing Australia said it relies on public donations to be able to offer this service without any cost.
The pop-up site will be available to festivalgoers from 11:30 am until around 9 pm.
Canberra’s Groovin the Moo was the first Australian festival to trial pop-up drug testing facilities in 2018 and again in 2019, organised by Harm Reduction Australia. However, when the festival returned in 2022 with plans to resume the service, the insurer pulled out at the final moment and a replacement could not be found.
In April 2023, Groovin the Moo failed to secure pill testing services again for the same reason.
Spilt Milk is the first festival to take place since the ACT became the first jurisdiction in Australia to decriminalise the possession of small amounts of illicit drugs.
Canberra’s fixed site pill testing service CanTEST has also extended its hours in the lead-up to the festival.
The service offered extended opening hours on Thursday and Friday and is operational from 10 am to 1 pm on Saturday.
CanTEST chief officer Stephanie Stephens told Region earlier this week that there has been a “marked increase” in high-strength MDMA and cocaine being brought in for testing in recent months.
Ms Stephens said the higher strength of the drugs means there is a much greater chance of overdose and other complications, which is particularly a risk coming into the warmer months, as hotter conditions are associated with higher chances of death due to drug toxicity.
She urged Canberrans to exercise caution, start with a quarter of a dose and always get their drugs tested.
“People really don’t know what they’re mixing in their bodies,” she said.
“We’re urging people to get their drugs checked and to bring them into CanTEST. We can check the purity, and that’s a key risk.”
Spilt Milk will take place at EPIC in Canberra on 25 November from 11 am to 11 pm.
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