NSW could follow the lead of other states and territories by trialling free pill-testing sites at music festivals after the premier said he wasn’t ruling out the measure.

Two men died after leaving a dance music festival at Sydney Showground on Saturday, spurring renewed calls for the rollout of an ACT-style drug-testing regime at the popular events.

The causes of the deaths have not been confirmed, however Premier Chris Minns said it was a “terrible situation” for the families who had lost their loved-ones.

The introduction of pill testing for festivals would not be a perfect solution and the use of drugs like MDMA, or ecstasy, in hot conditions where people were liable to become severely dehydrated was a “toxic and extremely dangerous mix”, he said on Tuesday.

“Pill testing is not going to stop that from happening and I need to make sure that when decisions are made about festival safety – which is our primary concern – it’s done with the full information on the table,” he said.

The ACT introduced a fixed pill-testing site in July last year as part of a trial due to run until the end of 2024, while Queensland earlier this year paved the way for fixed and mobile drug-testing sites to be introduced.

NSW is due to hold a drugs summit next year to consider the use of pill-testing sites, among other harm-reduction measures, however advocates for reform have called for immediate changes to prevent more deaths over the summer festival season.

Greens MP Cate Faerhmann said the government should take steps recommended by experts including introducing free pill testing and curbing the use of police sniffer dogs at festivals.

Mr Minns said NSW would learn from other jurisdictions and he was not ruling out introducing a similar pill-testing trial in the state.

But investigations into previous drug-related festival deaths had shown the cause was not necessarily people receiving a “compromised substance” but rather a dangerously high dose of MDMA, he said.

“If I thought that (introducing pill testing) was a silver bullet that would solve deaths at music festivals, of course I would take it, but when it comes to toxicity, when it comes to MDMA and ecstasy use, there’s no safe drug-taking at festivals or anywhere else,” he said.

– AAP