Stronger push to expand pill testing
05 Sep 2025
The RACGP is pushing to expand lifesaving services in Tasmania and South Australia, urging that action cannot wait.
Australia’s GPs are calling for fixed and mobile drug-testing services to be expanded into Tasmania and South Australia, warning that powerful synthetic drugs like nitazenes are putting lives at risk.
The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) says both state governments must follow the lead of the ACT, Victoria and New South Wales, where pill testing services have already been introduced.
RACGP Tasmania Chair Dr Toby Gardner said the dangers are escalating.
“The stakes are getting so much higher – this is a serious health issue, and we must act now. People simply don’t know what they’re taking, and it’s like playing roulette,” he said.
He noted that Hobart recently recorded the highest opioid use in the country, including substances like oxycodone and fentanyl, which are now being mixed with nitazenes – drugs far stronger and deadlier than heroin.
Deputy Chair Dr Tim Jones said harm-reduction measures like pill testing could save young lives.
“It’s a tragedy that many overdose victims are young people with their whole lives ahead of them. Without drug testing, deaths will continue,” he said.
Evidence drug testing works
Pill-testing services have already shown results in other states:
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In Victoria, testing at music festivals found 11% of samples were not what people expected.
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Around 65% of people who used the service had their first-ever health conversation about drugs and alcohol.
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30% said they planned to change their behaviour after receiving advice.
The ACT became the first state to set up a permanent pill-testing site in 2022 and continues to run services at major events.
Growing pressure in South Australia
RACGP South Australia Chair Dr Siân Goodson warned that the state cannot afford to wait.
“Lives are at risk, we need action. Other states are moving ahead – why not us? A law-and-order approach gets us nowhere,” she said.
She stressed that the upcoming summer music festival season makes the need for pill testing even more urgent, with new synthetic drugs constantly entering Australia.
Last month, South Australian authorities warned about nitazenes, which are many times more potent than fentanyl. Between January 2024 and March 2025, eight nitazene shipments were intercepted at the border.
Surveys show more than 70% of South Australians support pill testing.
“How many more lives have to be lost before the Government acts?” Dr Goodson said.
The RACGP says drug testing is not about encouraging drug use – it’s about keeping people alive and giving them access to health advice they might otherwise never receive.
Source: RACGP
