An independent review of the pill testing trial at the 2019 Groovin The Moo festival in Canberra has found not only did it work, but that the model could be rolled out nationally.

The evaluation—believed to be the first of its kind globally—was commissioned by the ACT Government after the first trial in 2018 but was done completely independently by researchers at the Australian National University.

Overall, the big takeaways from the report are that:

Young people listened to the advice they were given about what was in their drugs

It gave authorities some new information about what kind of drugs and dangerous chemicals are on the market

There was great collaboration between police, the festival and the testing organisers

ANU researcher Dr Anna Olsen says part of what makes this review different is that they spoke to people after the festival about what they ended up doing with their drugs after they were tested.

"What they largely told me was that most of them used the drug that they had tested and employed harm reduction behaviours [while using] that drug," she says.

"They used less than they planned, they spaced it out, they drank more water."

Dr Olsen says one of the big positives of the trial was that it put young people in touch with health professionals who could give them expert advice.

"People's attitudes changed coming into the service," she says.

"People reported that they were more likely to seek information from health providers which is great news because we know in this population of people they don’t often go to health services to ask questions about their drug use because they’re worried about the law and being judged and things like that."

Most of the people that gave feedback, who’ve been kept anonymous, found the whole setup and the information about what was in their pills easy to understand.

"It was good, it wasn’t judgmental, it was insightful" - 22 year old woman

"It didn’t feel rushed or feel like the people all just read from a script of what she needs to say or he needs to say to you, it was tailored advice relevant to me and delivered in a manner which made me feel comfortable" - 23 year old man

"Everyone was really approachable ...being an anxious person, I was worried that there might be judgement behind their words but it was a safe space in there, which was really nice" - 25 year old woman

While Dr Olsen says her team can’t say whether the trial saved lives or not, it did identify a dangerous substance in seven different pills that's killed people overseas and hospitalised people in New Zealand.

Every single person who was told their drugs had the chemical dumped them in the bin.

Trial organisers feel "vindicated"

The trial was run by Pill Testing Australia who say the independent report is "vindication" that its model works and should be rolled out nationwide.

"Most of the other governments around the country have always said that they don't support pill testing because it sends the wrong message," Gino Vumbaca from Pill Testing Australia says.

I think it’s time for them to set aside their ideological opposition to this and to actually rely on the best evidence for the policies and programs to put in place."

He says that the offer to run a free pilot program in every jurisdiction still stands if any other government wanted to get on board, but so far none had expressed any interest.

But whether pill testing will return to Canberra seems a bit up in the air.

While ACT Government has welcomed the new report, the health minister Rachel Stephen-Smith hasn’t confirmed what it plans to do next and whether it’ll look to permanently fund pill testing sites at future festivals.

As well as highlighting what the trial did right, the ANU report is also recommending a few improvements.

It says there should be more signage to mark where the pill testing is in future and that organisers should develop a consistent way to tell people what is or isn’t in their drugs so there's no misinterpretations.