Uniting NSW.ACT urges NSW to add fixed-site services
Drug checking will be allowed at 15 music festivals across NSW each year under a NSW government decision announced on 2 September 2026.
Uniting NSW.ACT welcomed the change on 2 September, but called on the state government to go further and set up permanent community-based drug checking services.
The organisation argues festival-only access leaves out many people who use drugs outside those events, including people in regional areas and people who cannot afford festival tickets.
Alice Salomon, Director Advocacy and External Relations at Uniting NSW.ACT, called the decision “a welcome start” and said drug checking can give people potentially life-saving information.
She also said the service creates a chance to connect people with trusted health advice and support.
St Stephen’s church offer still stands
Salomon said access to harm reduction should not depend on “whether or not you can afford a festival ticket, where you live, or the circumstances in which you use drugs”.
According to Uniting NSW.ACT, fixed-site drug checking would reach many more people than festival services alone. That includes regional communities, where the organisation says there is both need and demand.
Uniting NSW.ACT has already offered a site in central Sydney. The organisation says it is still willing to host drug checking at St Stephen’s Uniting Church on Macquarie Street, directly opposite NSW Parliament House.
Salomon renewed that offer on 2 September and urged the NSW government to build on the festival program with community access.
She said every person who uses drugs deserves access to harm reduction services that can help keep them safe.
Uniting NSW.ACT linked the push to overdose deaths, saying the toll is double the road death toll.
The group already runs the Medically Supervised Injecting Centre and has led the Fair Treatment Campaign for fairer drug laws for more than seven years.
Uniting NSW.ACT works across NSW and the ACT through social justice advocacy, community services and spiritual care. It says its services support people across all ages and stages of life.
The NSW government announcement covers 15 music festivals each year, but Uniting NSW.ACT did not identify which festivals would take part.
