New Zealand has permanently legalised pill testing at events including concerts and music festivals, a year after it was introduced on a trial basis.
Pill testing services are not available in any Australian jurisdiction but were trialled twice in the ACT in 2018 and 2019.
The New Zealand bill passed by 87 votes to 33, with just National - the main opposition party - voting against the legislation.
Following a trial period of one year, New Zealand has passed permanent pill (pictured) testing legislation
Health Minister Andrew Little said evidence showed pill-testing helped to keep people safe by identifying potentially dangerous substances before they have been taken.
'Research by Victoria University on behalf of the Ministry of Health showed that 68 per cent of festival-goers who used drug-checking services said they had changed their behaviour once they saw the results,' Mr Little said.
Three organisations - the Drug Foundation, Needle Exchange and Institute of Environmental Science and Research - have been approved to carry out the testing at events across the country.
The government announced in October that it would contribute $800,000 towards the training of drug-checkers and providing information about drug harms.
Though it didn't have the votes to stop the bill, it was met with strong opposition by the National party.
National's Justice spokesman Simon Bridges said Victoria University's research was not reliable, and that Australian and UK studies had found testing increased usage.
'The only message that really stops fatalities is that no pill is safe. There's no such thing as a safe ecstasy or a safe dose of some of the other drugs that may in time be able to be tested. That's, in effect, what the coroner has said very recently,' he said.
