Police vow to not bust Schoolies with drugs at pill-testing sites

Police say they will not bust teens getting drugs tested at a controversial new pill-testing service at the Gold Coast Schoolies, instead to launch a blitz on two other major dangers.

Police say they will not bust teenagers getting drugs checked during a controversial new pill-testing initiative at Schoolies on the Gold Coast.

Instead, they will launch a blitz on knives, e-scooters and e-bikes.

A top cop has revealed plans for major operations targeting teenagers and adults trying to bring weapons to Schoolies – as well as those riding recklessly through the Surfers Paradise party precinct on e-transport – but says schoolies will be able to have pills tested by the state government-sanctioned service without fear of being arrested.

Police watch over Schoolies celebrations in Surfers Paradise. Pic: Sergio Dionisio/Getty Images

Tens of thousands of school-leavers will hit the Glitter Strip next weekend for the annual ‘rite of passage’ festival.

The LNP had vowed to scrap plans for pill-testing at Schoolies but backflipped because a contract for the service had already been signed by the former Labor government before last month’s election.

Gold Coast police Superintendent Miles, whose daughter will be among Schoolies revellers, said police certainly did not condone illegal drug-taking.

Schoolies party on the Gold Coast. Pic: Sergio Dionisio

But they wanted school-leavers to be “as safe as possible” and would not be pouncing on those getting pills tested.

“There is evidence to suggest that when people go down and get their pills tested and have exposure with a counsellor, sometimes they do throw their drugs away,” he said.

“In that respect, it’s (pill-testing) a proactive activity which we support.”

Supt Miles said more than 100 officers would be on duty each night of Schoolies, with officers patrolling on foot, pushbike, horseback, ATVs and in boats and the Polair helicopter.

He said officers would use new police “wanding” powers to scan schoolies and “toolies” (older hangers-on) for weapons on public transport including trams as well as at local shopping centres.

Superintendent Peter Miles with knives seized by police at Helensvale Station.

The so-called Jack’s Law – named after Coast teen Jack Beasley who was fatally stabbed in Surfers Paradise in 2019 – was recently widened to allow police to increase their use of metal detectors in public places.

More than 1000 weapons have been taken off the streets since police were given “wanding” powers in 2021.

Supt Miles said a rising number of school-leavers were not spending the whole week at Schoolies but were catching trains and trams to the event, prompting police to target transport hubs.

“It’s about giving people the mindset that when they first hit the Glitter Strip, they will see police around,” he said.

“We’ll be heavily focusing on our early intervention. It won’t be just about arrests, it’s all about engaging with the young people.”

Supt Miles said police would also be cracking down on rogue e-bike and e-scooter riders.

“We’re well aware that they’re causing a little bit of angst out there – those things fly, you don’t hear them until they’re past you,” he said.

“We want to make sure that people are riding them appropriately without alcohol or drugs, because that’s a horrendous mix.”

Police gave last year’s Schoolies attendees an “A+” after near-record low arrests, with Supt Miles saying today’s school-leavers were “a different breed – they’re drinking their lattes and going out for runs in the morning”.

Schoolies celebrations in Surfers Paradise. Picture: Bradley Kanaris

Queensland Ambulance Service senior operations supervisor Rachel Latimer, a 35-year veteran paramedic, said the bad old days of Schoolies were “a different lifetime ago”.

“It was a little unruly whereas the kids these days are more just there to have fun, and the systems are there in place to keep them safe and support them,” she said.

“There’s a reduction in that need to get wasted and a lot less kids drinking alcohol.”

Ms Latimer said paramedics attended 142 Schoolies-related incidents last year, down from 198 in 2022. More than 450 people were treated at the on-site Schoolies emergency centre last year, but not all were school-leavers.

Matt Lloyd, CEO of major schoolies booking agency Schoolies.com, said about 18,000 school-leavers were expected to descend on the Gold Coast, with about 3000 heading to Byron Bay.

Mr Lloyd said Bali had re-emerged as a Schoolies hotspot, with about 8000 Year 12 graduates heading there and another 3000 to Fiji.

Byron has had problems with school-leavers in the past but the town’s mayor, Sarah Ndiaye, said she welcomed them after a tourism downturn.

“Most of the community have learned to embrace them and they’re generally really well-behaved,” she said.

“It’s very rarely the schoolies that make any trouble. They go on to bring their families back here and create good memories.”

Originally published as Police vow to not bust Schoolies with drugs at pill-testing sites