Queensland to roll out pill testing at Schoolies as more young women take drugs

Australia's biggest Schoolies celebration will make pill testing available for the first time but an opposition party has vowed to scrap the plan if elected.

Confidential and free pill testing will feature at the end-of-year event at a cost of $80,000. Source: AAP / Russell Freeman

Key Points

• Queensland, ACT and Victoria are the only Australian jurisdictions to have legalised pill testing.
• More than one-third of young women had taken an illicit drug in the last 12 months, a survey showed.
• Calls for standardised pill testing programs at festivals increased after the deaths of two people in 2019.

Pill testing will be introduced at Schoolies on the Gold Coast after national data revealed young women are taking drugs at the same rate as men.

Queensland is one of only three jurisdictions in the nation to have legalised pill testing and its state Labor government hopes to help school leavers celebrate safely.

Health Minister Shannon Fentiman said confidential and free pill testing would feature at the end-of-year event at a cost of $80,000.

"There is no safe way to take illicit drugs," she told budget estimates on Thursday.

"But if people are intent on taking these substances, and we have the technology available to help them know what's in it, then why wouldn't we offer that to people?"

The Schoolies service was offered after national data showed women aged 18 to 24 were taking illicit drugs at the same rate as young men for the first time since records began.

"We want everyone attending Schoolies to be safe and enjoy the celebrations with their friends," Fentiman said.

"Without these services, we're missing the opportunity to connect young people with healthcare professionals."

The National Drug Strategy Household Survey also showed more than one-third of young women had taken an illicit drug in the last 12 months — a 27 per cent increase over five years.

Queensland committed $1 million over two years to fund pill testing. Source: AAP / Russell Freeman

Queensland's first pill testing service was rolled out at the Rabbits Eat Lettuce festival over the Easter weekend where 250 people had substances assessed.

Calls for standardised pill testing programs at festivals increased after the deaths of Dassarn Tarbutt, 24 and Ebony Greening, 22, at the 2019 edition of the festival.

Queensland, ACT and Victoria are the only Australian jurisdictions to have legalised pill testing.

Queensland committed $1 million over two years to fund pill testing, with fixed sites established in Brisbane and the Gold Coast.

More than half of the people who took their drugs to the Brisbane clinic chose to discard them on-site.

But the state opposition said it would ditch the scheme if it won the October election.

"The LNP does not support the soft on drug approach by the Labor Party in Queensland," deputy leader Jarrod Bleijie said.