Pill testing
David LIMBRICK (South-Eastern Metropolitan) (18:03): (1616) My adjournment matter this evening is for the attention of the Minister for Mental Health. During the debate on the Drugs, Poisons and Controlled Substances Amendment (Pill Testing) Bill 2024 I had only one question in the committee stage of debate, and that was to confirm that the legislation allowed for the flexibility of additional services to receive licences, whether or not they were government funded. My support for the bill was contingent on this. The debate over this issue dragged out for many years, and it was always my view that the service should be permitted but taxpayers should not be funding it, especially when they are experiencing such significant cost-of-living pressure. In response to my question on this the minister gave the reassurance that the legislation allowed for additional licences and that she did not see any reason why this would not be authorised as long as the technical and other requirements were met.
The first summer of service delivery has now concluded, and planning would be starting for next summer. It is my understanding that there is another service that is interested in applying for a licence for next year. Best of all, they are offering to do this at no cost to the taxpayer. This seems like a perfect outcome. The government would have two separate services that they could access to better understand how well they operated, and they would get the second one for free. My request to the minister is to reaffirm her commitment that applications that meet the technical and other requirements will be granted a licence to operate.