NSW Premier Mike Baird has equated pill testing with supporting the illegal drug trade and dismissed a planned trial at music festivals as "ridiculous".
"We are not going to be condoning in any way what illegal drug dealers are doing," he told reporters in Sydney on Sunday.
"There is a very safe way to go about pills and that is, don't take them."
He said testing would give drug-takers a false sense of safety.
His comments follow a vow by Sydney doctor Alex Wodak, president of the Australian Drug Law Reform Foundation, to roll out a pill testing trial even if it means breaking the law.
Dr Wodak has announced he will begin fundraising $100,000 for a trial that he said would save young people's lives and reduce dangerous substances found in illicit drugs taken at festivals.
A stand will be set up at festival events with a machine that tests the content of pills and powders, reporting back to the user on whether it contained life-threatening elements.
"It's not ridiculous, we're testing the drugs and people can make informed choices," he told AAP on Sunday.
Dr Wodak said it wouldn't be too difficult to sign up festival organisers because it would make their events safer and he would move the trial outside of NSW if needed.
"It's keeping people alive," he said.
Federal Health Minister Sussan Ley said she wasn't convinced by the proposal.
"I know it's a very strong debate but my approach at the moment is to be guided by what our police forces are telling us," she told AAP.
Victoria's Mental Health Minister Martin Foley said the government did not have plans for pill testing.
"Other activities to reduce the harm associated with alcohol and drugs include treatment for people suffering problems related to their drug use ... and measures to minimise harms such as overdoses and transmission of blood-borne viruses," he said in a statement.
