Thousands of school leavers are arriving on the Gold Coast for the annual schoolies celebrations. This year, pill testing services will be available for the first time.
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00:00As you can see, we've got gorgeous Gold Coast weather here today.
00:07Ready to welcome 15,000 expected school leavers to the city.
00:14This night is the first night of celebrations for those 17 and 18-year-olds who've finished
00:21their exams and are ready to blow off some steam.
00:25This weekend and into the next week is the Queensland leg of schoolies.
00:30The following week, about 5,000 to 10,000 school leavers from interstate, mainly New
00:36South Wales and Victoria, are expected here.
00:41And I'm sure there's plenty of 17 and 18-year-olds in the car, in planes here this morning, getting
00:47pretty excited for what's to come.
00:50It's a pretty slick operation here on the Gold Coast compared to, say, 10 to 15 years
00:57ago.
00:58Police have actually told us that schoolies in the last few years have been pretty relatively
01:04well behaved compared to, say, in the 90s.
01:08And it's mainly a ticketed event where schoolies have under-18s or over-18s wristbands.
01:15They can go and see DJs on the beach.
01:18And there's lots of support as well from organisations like Red Frogs to make sure
01:24they're well looked after.
01:25And I'm sure that's welcome news to some nervous parents watching today.
01:30This will be the first year that pill testing will be available on the Gold Coast for schoolies.
01:37It was actually opposed by Premier David Crisafulli prior to his election, but due to some contractual
01:45hangovers, the new LNP government has decided they'll have to go ahead with the pill testing
01:53here.
01:54So any of the school leavers will be able to walk into the pill testing tent along the
01:59Esplanade at Surfers, get their drugs tested, and then they'll have a chat to a GP or health
02:07professional to chat through whether they're on medication and whether what they have is
02:12safe.
02:13Parents have told us they're not involved in the operation whatsoever and they'll be
02:17staying well away from that tent so that schoolies feel safe.