Schoolies bombshell: Labor expands controversial pill testing program to Gold Coast event
Pill testing will be rolled out at Schoolies on the Gold Coast this year, Health Minister Shannon Fentiman has revealed. But not if the LNP win the election. Vote in our poll
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There will be no pill-testing at Schoolies on the Gold Coast if the LNP take government, with Deputy Opposition Leader Jarrod Bleijie confirming they were vehemently opposed to the plan.
Health Minister Shannon Fentiman, at estimates on Thursday, revealed Queensland’s pill-testing scheme would be extended to Schoolies when it takes place at Surfers Paradise in November, with the facility to be co-located with other health services.
The decision came after recent data from the National Drug Strategy Household Survey revealed young women aged 18 to 24 were taking illicit drugs at the same rate as young men for the first time since records began.
In March Queensland became the first state in Australia to undertake pill-testing at a multi-day music festival. A total of 257 people had their substances tested at the Rabbits Eat Lettuce Festival. Fourteen drugs were discarded by the safety testers at the festival.
Two people died at the festival in 2019, with the coroner finding both had a lethal cocktail of drugs in their systems.
The state government’s plan is to roll out the free, voluntary and confidential service to Schoolies on the Gold Coast at a cost of $80,000.
Pill-testing involves the testing of substances a person is intending to use, providing a health intervention that aims to change a person’s behaviour and reduce their risk of harms associated with illicit drug use.
But Mr Bleijie confirmed the LNP would not go ahead with pill-testing at Schoolies if they are elected in October - which polls increasingly show is on track to happen.
“The LNP does not support the soft on drug approach by the Labor Party in Queensland, we do not support it,” he said.
Ms Fentiman said the Schoolies service was about empowering young people “with the information they need to make informed decisions that we hope will help to keep them safe”.
“Without these services, we miss a unique opportunity to engage with Queenslanders about the harms of drug use,” she said.
Two fixed-sites pill-testing services were established in Queensland this year - one in Bowen Hills in Brisbane in April and another at Burleigh on the Gold Coast in July.
According to the government 40 people used the service at Bowen Hills in the first month with a total of 80 samples.
The results showed 74 per cent of the drugs included unregulated substances like MDMA, Alprazolam and LSD.
Another 12 per cent had novel psychoactive substances, 3 per cent of other less common substances and 8 per cent of unknown drugs.
Schoolies.com CEO Matt Lloyd said the organisation’s primary concern was the safety and wellbeing of young people during Schoolies celebrations.
“We endorse any initiatives that will assist in making Schoolies safer for attendees,” he said.
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