'Save lives': Premier Jacinta Allen announces new pill testing trial to launch in Victoria

Pill testing will be trialled in Victoria later this year as part of a major policy shift for the state’s premier.

Jacinta Allan made the announcement in a video posted to social media on Monday night.

“I wanted to tell you here first: pill testing will be trialled in Victoria this summer,” she said.

Ms Allan said watching her two children grow up has impacted her stance on the issue.

“In a few years, they’ll be heading off to parties, to music festivals, and like all parents, I catch myself thinking – what if the worst happens? What if one of them doesn’t make it home?” she said.

“That’s every parent’s worst nightmare – and more parents are living it.”

Ms Allan’s predecessor Daniel Andrews was consistently against similar trials in his decade-long tenure.

“The best way to minimise harm is to acknowledge that there’s no safe level of which you can consume these drugs,” he said in February last year.

Five Victorian coronial recommendations since 2021 have pushed for drug-checking services in the state to reduce the risk of overdose deaths.

In January, Ms Allan said she had sought advice from the health department after at least 10 people were taken to hospital following suspected drug use at festivals.

Queensland is the only other state and the ACT is the only territory to have legalised the rollout of pill testing.