Drink spiking victims will have access to drug testing kits across Western Australia in what the state government says is a world-first initiative to help detectives catch sexual predators.
The kits, which will require a self-administered urine sample, will be available at all 24-hour police stations in the Perth metropolitan area, and at all regional stations.
Police confirmed the kits would be made available to officers at this year's school leavers events to clamp down on predators preying on young women.
The tests will be able to screen for more than 600 drugs that weren't previously picked up by toxicology tests.
WA 'leading the world': Police Minister
WA Police Minister Paul Papalia said Western Australia was "leading the world" by introducing the new initiative.
"The Sex Crimes Division has responded to a bit of a gap right around the world in how people address the concerns of victims who feel that they've been drink-spiked," he said.
He said the kits would not only enable officers to clamp down on drink spiking but also encourage victims to come forward.
"This is something that was not available [so] people were confronted by the challenge of where to go in the event that they felt they had their drink spiked," he said.
"In the event that there is the presence of some drug that indicates they've been spiked, then it will be investigated, it will come to the attention of Sex Crimes Division, and the perpetrator will be pursued and brought to justice."
Testing to provide forensic evidence
The tests will be time-critical as some drugs, such as GHB, are only detectible in a person's system for 12 to 24 hours from ingestion.
WA Police Acting Commander Gordon Fairman said people who believed their drink has been spiked should go straight to a police station and take the test.
Commander Fairman said the testing technology, used in collaboration with ChemCentre WA, would enable results to come back "within hours and days, not weeks and months" and it would pick up new drugs.
"It's the key in this test because traditionally, a toxicology test would look for things like heroin, cannabis, cocaine," he said.
"They're not drugs that are associated with drink spiking so the ability now through the new testing that has been developed by ChemCentre is that we can look for 600 new and emerging drugs.
"That'll capture things like Ketamine, GHB, MDMA, that previously wouldn't have been picked up in a toxicology screen and they're the drugs that we think are going to be more likely to be involved in drink spiking."
Each testing kit will be numbered and can be tracked by police to determine how frequently allegations of drink spiking are made, along with which locations the incidents occurred - whether at licensed venues or private premises.
Police would then use the data to identify patterns and further investigate drink spiking related crimes.
Commander Fairman said the incentive to start the program came from an increase in anecdotes of drink spiking in the past 12 to 15 months, and the availability of testing technology.
Victim urges others to get tested
Sarah was just 17 when she went to an Australia Day party where she believes her drink was spiked.
"I believe that potentially I was taken advantage of sexually," she said
Sarah recalls feeling that "something horrible has happened" when she realised her bra was inside out.
"I knew then that something had definitely gone wrong, and that it wasn't me getting drunk, which was what my friends assumed," she said.
"So that was a pretty awful moment in my life. I didn't bring it on myself. And it was a pretty bad situation, and it could have been a lot worse."
She didn't talk much about what happened that night but now, as a mother, she wants her daughter to grow up in a world where the risk of drink-spiking is talked about openly.
"It's not going to stop these things from happening," she said.
"But when I look back, one of the things I wish I had done is presented to a hospital or a doctor or something and got tested and actually check that that is what happened to me."
Focus needs to be on perpetrators, says doctor
La Trobe University's Doctor Jessica Ison said it was a well-meaning approach, but raised some concerns.
She is a currently researching drug and alcohol-facilitated sexual violence.
"It's not actually fixing some of the broader issues across the criminal justice system for why victims won't come forward," she said.
"So yes, now it might be easier to [get] tested, whether or not you've had your drink spiked, but every step following that is still the same and still going to be really traumatising for victims.
"What we should be doing is looking at how to stop perpetration, and how to put the focus back onto perpetrators instead of victims."
Police taking 'modern approach': Minister
Minister for Women's Interests Simone McGurk said the program was much needed in the community, citing a lack of options available for victims of drink spiking.
"They went to an ED, but they weren't sick enough to be tested, they were told to go to their GPs, who didn't know what sort of blood tests to order, and police were the same," she said.
"By the time they had gone through all of those different venues, any sort of samples or evidence would have left their systems."
She said it was important the public understood the seriousness of the crime.
"If you are caught spiking a drink or worse, if there is evidence of what you intended to do after you stupefied a victim, then that could result in some very serious offences," she said.
"This is an example of police taking a modern approach and being aware of what the current dangers and threats are to women and other members of the community out there who are at risk of having their drink spiked."
