NSW Health is committed to working with music festival organisers and private medical providers to keep people safe at music festivals.
Following changes to the Music Festivals Act 2019 commencing 1 October 2024, all music festival organisers in NSW must prepare and comply with a health and medical plan (also called a HMP). Some music festivals must have a health and medical plan that has been agreed to by NSW Health. To find out more about this process, visit NSW Government - Planning a music festival and read the guidance and FAQs provided.
NSW Health provides Guidelines for Music Festival Organisers: Music Festival Harm Reduction and a Health and medical plan template for event organisers. Together, these two documents help festival organisers to adopt best-practice strategies to help keep people safe and well at their events.
The NSW Health Guidelines for Music Festival Organisers: Music Festival Harm Reduction provide health, medical and harm reduction information and advice to support music festival organisers plan and deliver safer music festivals.
The guidelines help music festival organisers to know what health and medical risks to anticipate, to understand which harm reduction strategies are considered best practice, and to calculate what level of resourcing is needed to manage those risks and help event patrons stay safe and well.
The guidelines are updated regularly to reflect current best practice and experience. Feedback on the guidelines can be provided to MOH-musicfestivals@health.nsw.gov.au
A health and medical plan template has been developed to support festival organisers to plan and document the resourcing they’ll need to manage health and medical risks.
All music festival organisers in NSW must prepare and comply with a health and medical plan.
Festival organisers can use this checklist to ensure their plans are consistent with the guidelines.
Music festivals that do not require an agreed health and medical plan do not need to submit their document to NSW Health.
Music festivals that do require an agreed health and medical plan must submit their draft plan to NSW Health for review at least 60 days before the event. Email it to: moh-musicfestivals@health.nsw.gov.au
NSW Health’s role is to assess the plans of music festivals that require an agreed heath and medical plan, to ensure they are consistent with the guidelines.
Music festival organisers and promoters play an important role in communicating harm reduction messages to patrons. Harm reduction messages can be delivered before, during and after events. These messages can be distributed using festival communication channels including social media platforms, websites and promotional material.
Harm reduction messages should encourage patrons to seek help early if they experience adverse effects from drug and alcohol use and advertise the presence and location of care spaces, harm reduction service and medical services.
Harm reduction messages may include:
Music festival organisers, venues, and peer-based harm reduction services can use the Stay OK toolkit, which contains digital creative assets and print-ready media to promote harm reduction messaging to NSW festivalgoers.
For more information about drugs and alcohol, visit YourRoom to get the facts.
NSW Health has developed a series of short harm reduction videos. These videos can be used by event organisers and promoters and we encourage you to share them on your social networks.
For further information on music festival safety for patrons please visit Your Room.
Patron information on rights and responsibilities at music festivals is available from the NSW Users and AIDS Association and DanceWize NSW.
