The Future of the Party

#BeHeardNotHarmed is hosting a panel and party at Revs to explore how we can make parties more safe, inclusive and politically engaged.

Why? Because every summer, people who want to have a good time die. Last summer at least 5 people lost their lives, simply because they were forbidden from knowing what was in their pills.

We watch our friends die, and the response of the police is to further traumatise us by wasting money on sniffer dogs and invasive strip searches to ‘protect us’. And then when that doesn’t work, they threaten to ban parties and music festivals altogether. What’s worse is that the real dangers of sexual assault and marginalisation of minorities within the party scene go unnoticed and unaddressed by those in power.

Current drug and nightlife policies harm us because they were made by people who have never actually been to a party. Politicians and police claim they know what’s best for our communities. They don’t. And they’re in for a rough come-down.

We want pill testing, and with a united collective of partygoers, we’re going to get it. But pill testing is just the start! How can we extend the definition of ‘harm reduction’ to the other kinds of violence and oppression that we experience? What else can we be doing to show each other—and the whole world—how best to party?

Ticket options:

Entry to the panel (9-11pm) is via:

1. Donation at the door or;
2. Buy a $5 ticket online now via https://www.beheardnotharmed.com/future-of-the-party to secure a seat.

**If you attend the panel, you’ll get free entry to the party, but please note no pass outs!”**
(Please Note: If you arrive after 11pm you will have to pay the standard Revs door entry price of $25)

What’s the panel about?

(Doors open at 9pm, panel runs from 9.30pm-11pm)

We’ve brought together a diverse panel drawn from party creators and political activists. Before we hit the dancefloor together, we’ll discuss how we can transform the party and shape the policies and norms that dictate how we celebrate, explore ourselves and connect with each other.

A good party isn’t just about escaping the rest of the world. A good party should be a snapshot of the world you want to live in, and should empower you to start building that in the ‘outside’ world. And damn does the world need it right now!

This panel is the first in a series that seeks to give people from all corners of the party scene a space to share their valuable perspectives. By uplifting drug users, women, queer, and people of colour, we’re going to explore the history and intersections of drug use, dance, music and activism.

Panellists:

• Jess Murray — Harm Reduction Consultant for DanceWize, Harm Reduction Victoria (Australia); Former coordinator of DanceWize NSW.
• Mel Pearson — Social Services Manager at Rainbow Serpent Festival
• Melissa Warner — Secretary of PRISM: Psychedelic Research in Science & Medicine; Co-founder of Australian Psychedelic Society (APS); Education Officer at Mind Medicine Australia
• Ava Amedi — Freelance Event Safety Consultant; Has worked with: Le Fag, Cool Room, Hugs and Kisses, Good Manners, Thick ‘N’ Juicy, Trough

MC/Facilitators: Argo Theoharis — Diversity & Accessibility Officer at Students for Sensible Drug Policy Australia & Phoebe Logan-Jacobson — #BeHeardNotHarmed’s Victorian Campaign Coordinator.

***Panel attendees will be given free entry into the party which will run from 11pm to 7am in the Bandroom, but please note no pass outs!***

What’s the party about?

(11pm-7am)

Join us at the forefront of change, and help shape the future of the party. Change starts on the dancefloor and in the smokers area. We want a communal atmosphere that empowers all party-goers to create the nightlife they want to cut loose in.

We’re excited to use this opportunity to centre local woman and non-binary talent in our line-up – amazing, diverse additions to the Melbourne party scene who we rarely see curate a vibe back to back.

DJs:

• S ‘n’ S aka Sugar N Spice (b2b)
• SHINOBI
• Wiser
• Casey Leaver
• DJ Kiti

What’s #BeHeardNotHarmed about?

So far, the ‘Be Heard, Not Harmed’ campaign has focused on making drug use and parties safer by legalising lab-quality pill-testing, and we’ve taken our petition to dancefloors around the country. Now, it’s time to reflect on what we learnt, and evolve our policy platform to include wider discussions on safety, inclusion and political activation within the party and festival scenes.

The politicians may have learnt nothing over summer, but we’ve learnt a lot.

We’ve collected thousands of petition signatures and run a bunch of activist workshops and parties-with-a-purpose. We’ve learnt that policy changes (such as allowing pill testing) are essential for supporting people to look after themselves and keep parties running smoothly, but that pill testing is just the beginning of what we can do together to foster a more conscious and sustainable partying culture.

We say to policymakers that we are the experts on what our community needs. To do this genuinely, we must listen to everyone in our community and provide an environment of total inclusivity and safety for everyone, regardless of their drug preferences, gender, sexuality, skin colour — you name it!

Pill testing isn’t the only thing we need to do to make parties safer. As winter approaches it’s important that we continue these discussions and advocate for positive policy changes as well as positive changes within the party space.

What’s the solution?
The message to politicians is simple: stop funding things that police us, and start funding things that support us. We’ve got a bunch of policy asks we’d like to go forward with, but we want to hear more from the party community about what else we need to do (in terms of changing policy and culture) to make parties perfect for everyone.

Our current potential policy asks:

• Fund lab-quality, front-of-house pill testing at events and at permanent sites.
• Defund drug detection dogs — They’re proven to cause more harm and are a waste of money (E.g. See research by Peta Malins).
• Expand DanceWize, which offers peer-led drug education and non-judgemental care for people having challenging experiences.
• Expand services like The Nest which operates at Rainbow Serpent Festival and offers support to people experiencing issues on site related to consent, gender-based violence (GBV) and Trans-inclusivity. (See: https://rainbowserpent.net/community-responsibility/the-nest/ )
• Expand Safe Mates, which offers bystander intervention training.
• End the criminalisation of drug users so we can talk honestly in public about our experiences.
• Stop over-policing parties — let us manage our own communities, and have police on hand only for helping us remove any perpetrators of assault/harassment.

How you can get more involved?

Chat to our volunteers (they’ll be wearing Yellow #BeHeardNotHarmed T-Shirts).
In the lead up to the next festival season, we will be building a movement and putting more and more pressure on politicians to get them to implement better policies like pill testing.
We will be running ongoing activist training workshops, on various topics including:

• The history of the drug war,
• How to publicly communicate your personal story and the value of respectful drug use and partying,
• How to convince family, friends and strangers that a better approach to drugs is possible,
• How to lobby politicians.

We’ll also be running more events on various topics: if you feel like you’ve got something important to say, we’d love to offer you this platform!

Accessibility Information:
We are committed to challenging the stigma/discrimination of drug use and creating an inclusive environment that welcomes the participation of all people regardless of their: ethnicity; skin colour; national origin; gender identity; sex; affectional or sexual orientation; political affiliation; religious or spiritual beliefs; disability status; neurodivergent status; neuro-pharmacological variance; blood-borne virus status; criminal record; age; parenting or caring status; and psychoactive substance preference.

Public transport options:

Revs on Google Maps
Nearby train stations:

• Prahran station (500m away)
• South Yarra station (1.4km)

Alternatively, the number 78 tram can take you there with Revs being roughly in-between stop number 45 & 46.

Parking will not be available for this event, and in general, tends to be difficult in this area so driving is not advised.

Unfortunately, Revs is not a Wheelchair Accessible venue, entry to the venue is up a single flight of stairs, however once inside the floor is even with a stage set-up in the main area. During the panel, the space will be low sensory/stimulating, however as the night progresses the space will turn into a dancefloor with DJ’s and become a high sensory/stimulating space. There currently is no chillout space, however, there will be a smokers/vaping area, this is located down a flight of stairs and is outside. The toilets of this event are gendered for people to use as the gender they identify with. Non-gendered toilets can be provided upon request, please speak with a duty manager if required

In light of these considerations we are committed to creating a safe and inclusive space as possible, to foster this there will be safety angels on the night in #BeHeardNotHarmed Yellow T-shirts who you can approach if you feel uncomfortable, or if you experience any Racism, Sexism, Ableism, Classism, Homophobia, Transphobia, or other harms.

We also want to foster a culture of transparency and accountability so if you have any concerns or questions you can contact our Diversity and Accessibility Officer argo@ssdp.org.au and they’ll follow this up.

We acknowledge the traditional custodians of this land, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples of the First Nations. This event takes place on the unceded lands of the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin Nations. We pay our respects to their Elders past, present, and emerging, and to any First Nations people present with us today. As settlers, we ask that we reflect on what it means to profit from living, working, meeting, and partying on these lands which were taken through a process of colonisation that has been resisted for over 200 years. In particular how Australia’s colonial drug laws disproportionately impact First Nations people, and how this perpetuates this process of subjugation and oppression.