Sydney criminal lawyer, Mathew Nott, has long called for the acceptance of drug checking at music festivals to protect youth and unclog the courts.

“Community acceptance of pill testing at events and the standardisation of a process to do so is integral to protecting our youth,” Mr Nott said.

“There is no reason why promoters cannot contribute financially to offset the cost of testing as there is a duty of care to event attendees..

“More broadly, the NSW Government must learn some lessons from the ACT which has put in place very progressive laws in relation to private possession and use of drugs.

NSW Health ran a 12-month drug testing trial at 12 festivals which started in early 2025 and ended in February 2026.

By the end of the trial, 1,846 people had accessed the service and 1,480 drug samples had been tested.

About 86% of samples contained the drug the purchaser had expected. About 5% contained the expected drug plus another substance, and less than 3% contained only an unexpected substance.

Despite this, NSW Police continued their crackdown on drugs, excluding the pill testing area.

At one of the festivals, Yours and Owls music festival, 23 people were charged with drug possession.

“It would be naive to think that police officers would not be observing the precinct where the voluntary drug testing was taking place at these festivals,” Mr Nott said.

“No doubt festival goers with drugs are alert to this possibility and would be deterred from taking the necessary and available testing steps to keep themselves safe.”

The results of the trial that finished in February 2026 are under independent evaluation.

“Possession of drugs remains illegal in NSW,” Mr Nott said.

“In the ACT, a very progressive territory, decriminalisation of the consequences of low-level personal possession has occurred which provides some relief to police, the Courts and recreational drug users.”

If you have been charged with drug related offences, contact Nott and Co Lawyers for more information.