DNA sample testing from Queensland’s troubled forensic labs fast-tracked

DNA samples languishing in Queensland’s state-run forensic laboratory will be fast-tracked in a new $50m program to create justice for victims.

DNA testing will be outsourced in a new $50m funding commitment by the Queensland government. Picture: Martin Ollman

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DNA samples languishing in Queensland’s state-run forensic laboratories will be fast-tracked in a new $50m program to create justice for victims.

The two-year program will create an outsourcing program that will send DNA samples from rape kits, major crime cases, and unidentified human remains overseas for testing.

Queensland Police detectives are currently waiting 445 days, or 63 weeks, for essential major crime samples to be processed and returned.

Attorney-General Deb Frecklington said she was unsatisfied with the pace the backlog of thousands of samples was reducing.

“We cannot stand by while there are rapists on the streets and children living with abusers,” Ms Frecklington said. “That is Labor’s legacy.

“We are doing what Labor should have done years ago. To clear these backlogs and deliver justice for victims sooner, to keep vulnerable victims, including women and children, safe from further harm.”

Attorney-General Deb Frecklington at Parliament House in Brisbane on Tuesday. Picture: Richard Walker

A second review of the state’s beleaguered forensic labs, led by forensic scientist Kirsty Wright and renowned US geneticist and former Federal Bureau of Investigation expert Bruce Budowle, is under way following a 2022 review that identified serious shortcomings in testing practices.

The Crisafulli Liberal National government was forced last month to save historical samples relating to more than 100 murder and manslaughter cases from being destroyed in June under flawed legislation passed by the former state Labor government.

The disastrous shortcomings in the state-run laboratories were revealed by The Australian’s podcast, Shandee’s Story, in which journalist Hedley Thomas investigated the 2013 killing of Mackay woman Shandee ­Blackburn.

Ms Wright has long advocated for an outsourcing program. She was shut out of the state forensic labs by the previous government after being a whistleblower on the podcast about the troubling testing practices.

The team behind Shandee's Story: journalist Hedley Thomas, lewft, and Kirsty Wright. Picture: Richard Gosling

Ms Frecklington said the investment would allow Forensic Science Queensland to focus on implementing new processes and the eventual recommendations of the review.

“We are building them up to make sure that those scientists can get to work on the historical backlog … empowering FSQ to do the job that they should be doing, and making sure that those victims get seen to,” she said.

The 2022 commission of inquiry into the DNA testing debacle by former judge Walter Sofronoff KC made 100 recommendations, including the biggest review and retesting of forensic samples in world history.

The funding announcement comes the day after the Crisafulli government passed the second tranche of its flagship Making Queensland Safer laws.

Juveniles found guilty of 33 charges, including murder, attempted murder, rape and arson, can now be sentenced as adults.