Tuesday, 10 September 2024

Ministers statements: drug harm reduction

Ingrid STITT (Western Metropolitan – Minister for Mental Health, Minister for Ageing, Minister for Multicultural Affairs) (12:14): I rise to update the house on the Allan Labor government’s next step to reduce drug harms. Today we have introduced legislation to enable pill testing to commence this summer. Once passed, this bill will give express legal authority for both mobile and fixed-site services to operate in Victoria. I want to be clear: pill testing will save lives. It is not about condoning drug use and it is not about telling people they are good to go. It is about providing Victorians with the information and the facts to help them make informed, possibly life-saving decisions, and in an increasingly volatile and unpredictable drug market, it is needed now more than ever. Clear legislation will ensure all parties, including festival operators, pill-testing operators and their clients, know that nobody is breaking the law by operating or using the testing service.

Pill-testing services are much more than the test itself. Trained peer workers and technical experts will also provide clients with critical harm reduction information to reduce risk, and the intelligence gathered from this service will strengthen Victoria’s current drug surveillance efforts, helping us to get on top of dangerous trends sooner. We know that no drug is truly safe, but Victorians deserve to have all the information possible to help them make better, safer and more informed decisions. The science behind pill testing is clear: it saves lives and it reduces harm. Quite simply, it is just common sense, and that is why we are proud to be the first jurisdiction in the country to introduce dedicated legislation to support its operation from this year.