The NSW Government has outlined plans they say will “improve safety” at music festivals following two deaths at Defqon.1 In Sydney last month.
Premier Gladys Berejiklian today revealed the recommendations of an expert panel which includes:
- Improving the regulation of music festivals by introducing a new, specific and consistent licensing regime to improve safety and provide certainty for the music festival industry and other stakeholders
- Strengthening drug and alcohol education and providing more support for frontline health workers at music festivals
- Strengthening laws to target drug suppliers by introducing a new offence that will hold drug dealers responsible for deaths they cause and trialling on-the-spot fines for drug possession at music festivals
"Music festivals are a significant part of NSW's entertainment scene, and an important part of our economy - but we owe it to young people, and their parents and families, to make sure they are safe," Berejiklian said.
"The new licensing regime we are introducing, combined with better regulatory coordination, will ensure that events with a poor track record and heightened risk will face greater oversight from the authorities.
"Drug dealers who prey on young people, and seek profit by peddling illicit substances at music festivals, are on notice."
It comes after Ted Noffs Foundation Campaigns & Policy Coordinator Shelley Smith took aim at government for refusing to look at the evidence from pill testing conducted at Groovin The Moo this year in an exclusive piece written for The Music.
"How can our politicians continue to ignore both science and the electorate, when there have been far too many deaths?" Smith wrote.
"We’ve established that we can prevent harm at music festivals, so why do governments continue to bury their heads in the sand?"
Read the full piece here.
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