Consortium asked to test pills by festival promoters Australia-wide

But the group won't test at festivals outside the ACT until more governments get on board.

The STA-SAFE consortium, which will soon rebrand to Pill Testing Australia, filed an application late last year to test illicit drugs again when Groovin the Moo returns to the ACT in April.

Gino Vumbaca of the consortium said while the ACT government and festival promoter Cattleyard were yet to formally approve pill testing this year, he was optimistic that the harm minimisation measure would happen.

"We are still awaiting advice from the government and the promoters but it's my hope that it will go ahead again," Mr Vumbaca said, adding that they maintained good relationships after last year's trial.

ACT Health Minister Meegan Fitzharris said the government was currently considering its proposal, and if approved, would invite all jurisdictions to come to Canberra to observe the testing.

"The benefit of holding a second pilot would be its contribution to the evidence base for pill testing both locally and nationally," Ms Fitzharris said.

"The data that came out of the first pilot was informative for our health and emergency services, like police and ambulance officers, about the types of substances that are in the ACT. A second pilot would build on this information for these agencies."

While this year's application is largely the same, the consortium is planning for a higher level of patronage after last year's success. About 130 people used the service, and 85 drug samples were tested, and at times volunteers were overwhelmed by the demand.

However many festivalgoers had been unaware the service was being offered.

"We had little publicity and no signage because there was a late call, this one people will be more aware so we're expecting a higher level of patronage [if it goes ahead]," Mr Vumbaca said.

Negotiations about the Canberra pill testing trial came down to the wire last year.

While the ACT government, ACT Policing and venue the University of Canberra were all on board, Cattleyard only gave the green light for the trial to go ahead the Thursday before the Sunday festival.

The promoter had been concerned about reputational damage if police began arresting punters, and wanted an iron-clad indemnity agreement from government, as well as police to give users of the pill testing service immunity from prosecution.

However a spokeswoman for Cattleyard said in November that it would welcome pill testing at this year's event at Exhibition Park in Canberra.

Mr Vumbaca said about 10 other promoters, some of whom organised multiple festivals, had been in contact after the recent drug deaths to ask about pill testing.

"We've been getting calls from promoters all around the country wanting us to do pill testing, there's been a change in momentum," Mr Vumbaca said.

"They do a hell of a lot of work in maintaining patron safety and protecting the health of patrons. While program like ours is not a silver bullet, it's part of a suite of measures they'd like to have available. They know what we're offering will reduce harm, it certainly won't increase harm."

But until more governments soften their opposition to drug testing, Mr Vumbaca said they can't offer the service.

"We can't do much unless we have government cooperation. We've been encouraging governments interstate to contact the ACT government ministers and advisors, don't take our word for it on how we operate and how effective it is, take their word for it," he said.

The ACT government was initially opposed to pill testing, but came around after a working group of police, health officials and drug and alcohol specialists concluded it could help reduce drug-related harm.

However ACT Opposition legal affairs spokesman Jeremy Hanson said people would still take a pill when the test proved it contained an active quantity of the drug.

"That's why they bought it and then you don’t know what they effect of that pill is going to be on you. People die from dehydration, different amounts of drugs affect people differently, particularly dependent on their health and on their weight so that’s a lot of the problem," he told ABC Radio on Friday.

Mr Hanson said he believed an educational campaign over Snapchat or Instagram would be more effective in preventing young people from taking drugs.

However Ms Fitzharris said policy makers needed to listen to experts and the community and consider new approaches to prevent and reduce harm.

"The conservative side of politics in Canberra continue to take a ‘head in the sand’ approach to pill testing. It is of interest that their spokesperson on this issue is not the shadow health minister, but the shadow attorney-general,” she said.

"To be very clear to the Canberra Liberals, pill testing does not give a false sense of security. It is very clear in all the statements by the ACT government and material provided by Pill Testing Australia is that it is not safe to take these drugs.”

Former Australian Federal Police commissioner Mick Palmer also disagreed that pill testing gave a green light to drug use.

"This is happening now, there's no green light being given by drug testing at all and we’re failing miserably with the heaviest policing presence you could possibly muster," he told ABC Radio.

He said he'd dealt with cases where heroin addicts had taken doses twice as potent as they normally would and died as a result.

"They did what they normally did, had they been advised of the toxicity they probably would not have done it," Mr Palmer said.

Mr Vumbaca also said the "just say no" mentality was untenable, and pressure was mounting for governments around the country to follow the ACT's approach.

As part of the re-brand to Pill Testing Australia, the consortium will step up its lobbying, with plans to expand its grassroots network.

He said the new organisation would have a "much bigger footprint" and were hoping to recruit members of the music industry to become ambassadors for harm reduction.

And while only trained professionals can conduct pill testing, supporters will be able to sign up to campaign for the service in their communities.