Sarah’s story: bringing drug checking to Victoria

Sarah Hiley knows how life-saving harm reduction can be. She’s worked with people who use drugs and alcohol for over 20 years, most recently overseeing Melbourne’s Medically Supervised Injecting Rooms and other AOD programs run by the North Richmond Community Health Centre. For her, harm reduction measures like ensuring people who use drugs can inject safely are a no-brainer. “Prohibition hasn’t stopped people from using drugs,” she says. “If someone is going to take drugs, let’s try to reduce the risk as much as possible.” 

She knew that drug checking (sometimes called pill testing) would help make Victorians safer, by letting them know the contents and strength of their drugs. So, when she was asked to help run Victoria’s first-ever drug checking trial with The Loop Australia, alongside YSAS, Harm Reduction Victoria and funded by the Victorian Department of Health, she jumped at the chance.

“I feel so privileged to be part of this drug checking service, with the chance to make a real difference in reducing harm,” she says.

As Drug Checking Director, Sarah leads the implementation of the trial. This includes running a drug checking service at 10 Victorian festivals and setting up a fixed drug checking site in inner Melbourne. The service tests the contents and strength of most pills, capsules, powders, crystals or liquids, identifying dangerous synthetic opioids like fentanyl and nitazenes. Healthcare and Peer workers then talk to service users through the results, providing them with tailored information that helps people make safer choices. The service is confidential and anonymous.

Getting the service up and running was no easy feat – the team had just four weeks between the public announcement and delivering their first service at Beyond The Valley music festival over New Year’s. Organising the festival involved everything from hiring staff, buying equipment and creating signage, to organising accommodation and preparing to speak to the media the day before. “I remember Christmas Day morning being on the beach with my partner, he was holding my media statement, and he was like, ‘go again, you missed this out, go again’.” 

After all the hard work, Sarah says it was a “beautiful, overwhelming feeling” to see a queue of people waiting to drop off their samples 10 minutes before the service opened at Beyond The Valley. “There were a lot of young people, and to be able to give them that credible, factual, evidence-based information so they could make informed decisions based on that was pretty incredible.”

The statistics speak for themselves. At Beyond The Valley, the team tested over 600 samples, and more than 70 per cent of patrons said it was the first time they had ever had an open, judgment-free discussion about drug and alcohol safety with a health professional. 40 per cent of festivalgoers also said they would use a smaller amount of their drugs following those discussions.

Sarah says the lead organisations had the perfect mix of skills and knowledge to ensure the service was a success.  “People have given us a lot of trust, and have also been really open in discussing their experiences and wanting to hear back information from us,” Sarah says.

The next big milestone for the trial is the fixed site, which will open later this year. Sarah says it will help make the service more accessible. “The fixed service will give us that expansion so that anyone in Melbourne can come and get drugs checked, they don’t need to have bought a ticket or be able to afford to go to a festival.” Sarah says she’s continually energised by the positive impact drug checking is having on Victorians.

“It’s a huge leap forward for Victoria, and another step in the right direction for harm reduction.”