The NSW government will roll out voluntary drug testing at Sydney’s annual Field Day music festival this week.
Thousands are expected to attend the high-profile dance event at the Domain on January 1, featuring UK DJs Carl Cox and Jamie Jones.
Attendees can submit to an anonymous test where substances are analysed.
Health professionals on site will then provide advice on the risks involved after examining the samples.
Festival-goers will also be able to access ‘confidential guidance’ about drug consumption and support services.
The program of voluntary and anonymous drug checks at music events was recommended by the NSW government’s 2024 Drug Summit.
The NSW government will roll out voluntary drug testing at Sydney’s annual Field Day music festival this week. Thousands are expected to attend the high-profile dance event at the Domain on January 1, featuring UK DJ Carl Cox (pictured performing in the US in 2023)
Speaking about the drug test program, which runs for a year, NSW’s chief health officer, Kerry Chant said the plan was to help concertgoers make ‘informed decisions,’ reported News.com.
‘Our priority is to reduce harm and keep people safe,’ Chant told the publication, which reported that Field Day will be the ninth festival to roll out the drug tests.
Chant, however, said that the tests do not ‘guarantee safety’ but will help people discard ‘high-risk’ drugs and avoid dangerous substances.
A spokesperson for Field Day told the publication that ‘safety’ was ‘at the heart of everything we do’.
They continued: ‘To be among the first nine festivals in NSW to offer this to our festivalgoers is a great step toward statewide harm minimisation practices with proven results across the globe.
‘We’re grateful to the volunteers and NSW Health for making this a reality at Field Day,’ they said.
It comes after NSW’s drug test trial came under scrutiny recently after a popular music festival recorded more than a dozen drug overdoses.
About 60,000 music fans flocked to the Knockout Festival at Sydney Olympic Park in October, where at least 14 suspected overdoses were reported.
Attendees can submit to an anonymous test where substances are analysed. Pictured: Fans and police at the Field Day festival in the Domain on New Year’s Day in 2025
Festival-goers will also be able to access ‘confidential guidance’ about drug consumption and support services. Pictures: Fans at Field Day 2025
NSW Health confirmed five attendees were rushed to hospital as ‘urgent medical transfers’ while another three were later admitted due to drug use at the event, the Daily Telegraph reported.
Drug testing was conducted at the Knockout event as part of the NSW government trial introduced last December.
Just 319 of the 60,000 festivalgoers took advantage of the trial to check the substances inside the illicit drugs they had planned to take.
It has raised questions about whether the trial will continue into 2026, with NSW Opposition Leader Mark Speakman claiming there was ‘no evidence it saved lives’.
‘In fact, it may encourage a false sense of security,’ he told the publication.
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