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Original constituency question from Juliana Addison MP to Parliament –

My question is to the Minister for Mental Health. What are the benefits to my community of pill testing at Spilt Milk?

Spilt Milk is a massive event for Ballarat that is held in the heart of Wendouree. On Saturday tens of thousands of festivalgoers will see a huge line-up of local and international artists including Kendrick Lamar, Doechii and Dominic Fike along with artists like Schoolboy Q, Nessa Barrett and Skin On Skin.

For the first time Spilt Milk festivalgoers will have access to a life-saving drug-checking service. This service is confidential, completely free and staffed by experts providing health information to support safer, more informed decision-making.

I am proud of our government’s harm reduction approach, which is centred around open health-focused conversations and advice. This is a health initiative that is about reducing harm and saving lives.

I hope everyone has a great time at Spilt Milk on the weekend.

Response from Ingrid Stitt MP, Minister for Mental Health (7 January 2026) –

I thank the Member for Wendouree for their question about the benefits of the Victorian Pill Testing Service (VPTS) operating at Spilt Milk festival on 6 December 2025 in Ballarat.

Pill testing (or drug checking) is an evidenced based harm reduction service that saves lives. It does this by analysing the contents of drugs and providing people with accurate information to help them make safer, more informed choices.

As part of our trial, the Victorian Government is bringing this free, anonymous service to events in both metropolitan and regional Victoria to reduce the risk of overdose and ease pressure on frontline services.

Spilt Milk hosted the VPTS in December. Preliminary data from the event indicates the service spoke to more than 130 people and tested more than 70 samples. Patrons were keen to understand the contents of their substances to uncover potential harms and have a non-judgemental conversation with a health professional about ways to make safer choices. Fortunately, no substances were detected that required an urgent drug alert to be issued at the event.

More information about service delivery at Spilt Milk will be made publicly available on the VPTS website soon. This will include information about service user demographics, types of substances tested, substances detected and service user actions after receiving information from the service. At previous events, over 30 per cent of service users said they would take a smaller amount after speaking with VPTS staff, and over 40 per cent said they would alert their friends of the test results and advice following use of the service.

Again, I thank the Member for Wendouree for their support of the Victorian Pill Testing Service.

Watch and read more of my speeches to Parliament here, including responses from ministers on how we’re working for Wendouree.