CAHMA's festival harm reduction service brings a team of highly trained peer-educators to your festival or event. Leveraging evidence based policy, information from our joint drug checking site, CanTEST, and the lived experience of our workforce, our service can help keep your patrons safe and informed about their Alcohol, Tobacco & Other Drug (ATOD) use at your next event. CAHMAs festival harm reduction team is funded solely by festival organisers dedicated to making their festivals safer. Funding from government for a more holistic service is being sought so please show your support.
CAHMA offers tailored basic, intermediate, and full-service options for festival harm reduction depending on the scale of your event or festival. The basic tier ensures trained volunteers, and a project officer are on-site, funded by the organiser’s coverage of staff wages. The intermediate tier adds CAHMA’s expert advice regarding pre-event planning and stakeholder meetings. The full-service tier builds upon the previous levels by including emergency plan meetings and a dedicated care space installed at your festival or event.
CAHMA’s festival harm reduction service is proud to be 100% peer operated. Unlike other festival harm reduction services operating in Canberra, CAHMA recognises that people who use drugs are far more likely to engage with someone they view as a peer. To this end, CAHMA recruits and trains peers with lived experience for our festival harm reduction service, with oversight from a CAHMA coordinator with extensive experience in events and risk management.
CAHMA’s festival harm reduction service is designed to slot into your existing risk management program, integrating with on-site medical teams and emergency services to round out a comprehensive patron-care suite.
“I actually feel really safe and comfortable at this event, more so than I did at Spilt Milk or Groovin The Moo, especially when you guys are here – thank you so much”
(femme-presenting, aged ~18-21)
“I’ve read all of your (substance specific) brochures, they are so good!”
(femme-presenting, aged ~18-21)
“We’re trying to be responsible, so we’re here to ask some questions about whether or not we should use cocaine and ketamine together”
(male-presenting, aged 21-25)
“I’m from Sydney and this place just feels so much more welcoming and less hostile, I got my drugs checked last night at CanTEST which was so cool”
(male-presenting, aged 25-30)