Shandee’s Story: DNA lab probe must have wide-ranging powers

A ‘comprehensive review’ into Queensland‘s state-run forensic laboratory will be conducted by external investigators, Health Minister Yvette D’Ath has confirmed.

Shandee Blackburn

A probe into allegations that flawed practices in Queensland’s forensic DNA laboratory may have allowed criminals to walk free must have wide-ranging powers and protections any for whistleblowers, the state opposition says.

Evidence of disturbing practices inside the DNA laboratory were exposed by renowned forensic scientist Kirsty Wright in The Australian’s podcast series Shandee’s Story, by national chief correspondent Hedley Thomas.

Dr Wright has logged a complaint about the lab with the state’s corruption watchdog, alleging it ignored serious concerns raised by internal and external scientists about the ­reliability of test results being presented to police and the courts.

She met with senior investigators at the Crime and Corruption Commission last week and has asked the watchdog to launch a public inquiry.

Dr Wright has called on Queensland Health Minister ­Yvette D’Ath to support her push for a CCC inquiry. Instead, Ms D’Ath revealed her department was drawing up terms of reference for a separate review into the lab.

Ms D’Ath told state parliament on Wednesday the department was “looking at doing an external review in relation to the allegations to ensure the public continued to have confidence”.

But Ms D’Ath’s office will not say whether the probe would hold public hearings, have power to compel witnesses, or provide legal protections to whistleblowers.

“These matters are still being worked through,” her spokesman said.

Opposition legal affairs spokesman Tim Nicholls said there had already been three internal reviews of the lab in the past four years which had “delivered nothing for victims”.

“The Health Minister must guarantee her fourth review isn’t just a stalling tactic to avoid a deeper investigation by the CCC,” Mr Nicholls said.

“If there’s any allegations that a cover-up could be preventing victims of crime getting the justice they deserve, the minister must support a CCC investigation.”

A former head of Australia’s national DNA database, Dr Wright is convinced the police investigation into the stabbing murder of Mackay woman Shandee Blackburn had been seriously compromised by a litany of forensics failures at the lab.

Rather than it being an isolated case, Dr Wright believes the lab has concealed systemic issues with its testing methods and procedures, putting the public at risk from serious and violent offenders who are not being identified and brought to justice.

Her complaint to the CCC alleges official misconduct and corruption in the DNA testing lab.

“These are very serious ­matters affecting potentially ­hundreds of victims of crime for at least a decade and they cannot be left to some departmental review of a performance that has been overseen by the same department all these years,” Dr Wright said.

“It has to be the subject of a CCC inquiry, or a similar inquiry with very broad powers, to avoid a whitewash.”

Shandee’s mother, Vicki Blackburn, said nothing short of a public inquiry could be trusted to investigate serious DNA testing failures alleged in the handling of her daughter’s unsolved murder.

“The suspect outcomes of many tests have been questioned and brought to light previously and those have been minimised and the faulty testing and reporting has been allowed to continue,” Ms Blackburn said. “The full extent of the impact on our legal system has yet to be determined.”