Scientist whose brave stand protected public interest

Until 18 months ago, few Australians had heard of Queensland forensic scientist Kirsty Wright. Now, we are proud to announce, Dr Wright is this newspaper’s 2022 Australian of the Year, chosen from a strong field of nominees proposed by readers. Dr Wright risked her career and reputation when she took a public stand to expose one of the greatest failures in Australia’s criminal justice system. Speaking to national chief correspondent Hedley Thomas on The Australian’s Shandee’s Story podcast, which investigated the stabbing murder of Mackay woman Shandee Blackburn, 23, in February 2013, Dr Wright exposed and confirmed major flaws in the Queensland government’s DNA laboratory. Thomas had sought her out when he was trying to make sense of why blood and other ­samples collected at the murder scene returned findings of “no DNA detected” when tested. How could that be when they had to be teeming with genetic markers? Dr Wright studied the material shown to her by Thomas in her own time, with a clearance from the army where she had worked as a senior forensic scientist. The government DNA laboratory, she concluded, had mishandled evidence for years, potentially compromising thousands of rape and murder cases.

Many samples connected with these cases, including that of Blackburn, who bled from 20 knife wounds and died in the gutter about 70m from her mother Vicki’s house after walking home from a night shift in a coffee shop, will be reviewed, following the royal commission-style inquiry into the lab by former Court of Appeal president, retired judge Walter Sofronoff KC. After resisting such an inquiry Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk relented and called it under sustained pressure from this newspaper.

“It is uncommon for technical professionals to be willing to risk the dangers of publicity,” Mr Sofronoff wrote in his final report last month. “For this reason, Dr Kirsty Wright must be singled out as a scientist who bravely took a public position upon a point of important principle only because the public good required her to do so. Had she given private advice to Mr Thomas, nobody would have judged her. In my opinion her willingness to take a public stand was an act of real bravery.” Dr Wright did not ask for anonymity. “If I was going to come out and make such serious claims and important claims, I wanted to own those claims,” she said. “I think they’re much more legitimate if they come from a known source.”

The laboratory, Mr Sofronoff confirmed, had set an unusually high threshold below which DNA samples would not be tested. The top scientist at the laboratory, Cathie Allen, had been lying for a long time “to her immediate supervisor and to senior police about the work of the laboratory”, the commissioner said. Cutting corners with DNA testing, he suggested, was intended to make the lab “look good” and improve turnaround times for police. That was despite the fact Ms Allen knew inadequate testing would mean far fewer DNA profiles of offenders being identified.

Dr Wright was a standout for the Australian of the Year award, favoured by readers and the senior editorial team, The Australian’s editor-in-chief, Michelle Gunn, said. “This is because she embodies values we all aspire to: honesty, integrity and a determination to change things for the better.” Dr Wright said people did not have to be famous or special to do the right thing. “I was just a normal person who found myself in a situation, with the skills I have, that I had an opportunity to really make some change and really help people.’’

Because of Dr Wright’s speaking out, an incalculable number of people will never be harmed and communities will be safer, as Thomas writes. And the Palaszczuk government’s $100m rebuild of the DNA lab should result in its being run with professionalism, by scientists committed to do their best to help police solve major violent crime.