Queensland Government says no to pill testing
23 Sep 2025
The decision follows the earlier closure in April of two fixed-site CheQpoint services in Brisbane, which had been set up by the former Labor government in 2024. The closures were made by the LNP government only a year after the sites opened.
This move comes despite research showing the benefits of drug-checking services. In March, an international study led by the University of Queensland reported the spread of the dangerous synthetic opioid nitazene, which was detected for the first time in Australian wastewater. The report prompted the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) to urge Queensland to re-open pill-testing sites.
RACGP spokesperson Dr Marguerite Tracy said drug-checking is a practical health measure. “This is not about condoning illegal drug use, it’s about helping people make informed decisions,” she said.
The University of Queensland also delivered a report to Queensland Health in June, which was finally released last week alongside the government’s ban. It found pill-testing provides “valuable harm reduction,” noting that only 57% of tested samples contained the expected substances. Many contained unexpected or dangerous drugs, and surveys showed people often reduced or avoided drug use after receiving their results.
The report recommended expanding pill-testing through fixed and mobile services, including in regional areas.
Despite this, the Queensland Government has ruled out the practice, even as medical organisations including the RACGP and AMA Queensland continue to support it.
Drug-checking services are already operating in other parts of Australia. The ACT introduced festival-based trials in 2018 and opened the CanTEST fixed-site service in 2022, which is funded until 2027. Victoria followed in 2024 with mobile services at music festivals and opened a permanent service in Melbourne in August 2025. NSW also began a 12-month trial of mobile drug-checking at festivals earlier this year.
The RACGP has called for pill testing to be expanded nationally, including in Tasmania and South Australia.
Source: newsGP
