Queensland’s state government is expected to ban pill testing, including at festivals, by attaching amendments to an unrelated bill in parliament in a move criticised by health advocates.

Under the previous Labor government, Queensland was the first state to establish a fixed pill-testing strategy on an ongoing basis, in 2024. Clinics were opened on the Gold Coast and in Brisbane.

The Liberal National party closed them upon taking government last October, as promised before the election , by cutting their public funding.

But festival-based pill testing services continued to operate in Queensland.

Pill Testing Australia ran services at two music festivals since last year’s election, most recently at the Rabbits Eat Lettuce festival in April.

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