Ms BURNET (Clark) – Honourable Speaker, I move –
That the House take note of the following matter: pill testing.
We had this question this morning and it’s unfortunate and very disappointing that there was an easy win for the Minister for Health to introduce pill testing, but clearly the government isn’t interested in doing so.
This week, Victoria opens its first permanent pill testing site, having trialled mobile testing at festivals for several years. We heard from RACGP’s Dr Toby Gardner, who’s now‑annual call for action has once again been ignored by this government.
Why is it on this issue that the government is unable and unwilling to listen to experts and take a simple action, one that would not require legislation, just the stroke of the minister’s pen, that would undoubtedly save lives? The other medical organisations backing this are the Royal Australian College of Physicians, the Public Health Association of Australia and the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia, and they all support pill testing.
Dangerous, illegal and unregulated substances present an increased risk to those who choose to take drugs, and it is not going to go away. Synthetic opioids are on the rise and preventable overdose deaths with safe drug checking, whether at a permanent or mobile site, is an opportunity for harm reduction. It is a chance for users to have a frank, honest and confidential conversation with a health professional and make a more informed decision. People do walk away from it once they know what’s in the pill and substances that have been tested. It is clearly not a green light that says that any drugs are safe, but it will flag the presence of dangerous and poorly understood substances like fentanyl and nitazenes.
In July, the Premier made an announcement that there was a $1.5 million lifeline going to Party in the Paddock, which is a good thing, but so too would be the introduction of pill testing at such festivals to give a lifeline, literally, to people who may be taking harmful substances.
Evidence points to the fact that pill testing works, and we have seen that in the ACT, where around a third of those who found their drugs contained unexpected substances chose to safely dispose of them and not take the risk. They did so knowing they were not at risk of being criminally penalised for using illicit drugs, something that almost half of adult Australians have done in their lifetimes.
Drug checking and pill testing also provides important data for the health professionals and researchers who study drug use, and this data helps shape other harm reduction policies. A proposal for harm reduction from Harm Reduction Australia before the government currently offers a ‘no cost to taxpayers’ model for a trial at this summer’s festival season. I would be interested to hear the ministers’ thoughts on that.
While costs should be far down the list of reasons to introduce pill testing, we once again have the chance to invest in a preventative approach which will come at a much lower cost than continuing to treat drug use as a criminal issue and putting extra strain on our emergency services and our mental health services, so just see what we can do.
We no longer question harm reduction measures like seatbelts. This is about saving lives. We have the opportunity here to take a preventive rather than a reactive approach. I don’t want to stand here debating legislation in response to the tragic and preventable loss of another young life.
