Government announces $50m program to tackle DNA backlog

A new $50m program will attempt to clear the “outrageous” backlog of samples awaiting processing in the state’s forensic DNA lab.

Attorney-General Deb Frecklington in Parliament on Thursday. Picture: Tertius Pickard/NCA NewsWire

DNA samples from rape kits, most major crime cases and unidentified human remains will be sent overseas for testing under a new $50m outsourcing program to tackle the state’s DNA backlog, Attorney-General Deb Frecklington has announced.

The two-year program, to be overseen by the Department of Justice, will focus on clearing a backlog of more than 2300 DNA samples in Queensland’s state-run forensic laboratories.

It is currently taking 445 days, or 63 weeks, for major crime samples to be processed and returned.

Ms Frecklington said outsourcing was the next necessary step to “clean up … one of the greatest failures of a justice system anywhere in the world”.

“These aren’t just statistics, they are people who have faced some of the worst crimes imaginable and we owe it to each of them, and their families, to get the answers they deserve,” Ms Frecklington said.

Queensland’s forensic labs were plunged into scandal in 2022 after it was revealed that more than 100,000 DNA samples were tested using a “fatally flawed” process that resulted in critical criminal evidence being missed.

A second inquiry launched by the former Labor government in 2023, led by Annabelle Bennett and Kirsty Wright, was scathing in its criticism of Project 13, an automated DNA extraction system.

Project 13 was found to have extracted less DNA than comparable methods and was not scientifically validated for use, but the report concluded no individual was to blame.

Police Minister Dan Purdie said victims of crime deserved justice sooner.

“The outsourcing of DNA is a critical step towards justice for tens of thousands of Queenslanders who were let down by the former Labor Government,” he said.

“Justice delayed is justice denied – Queenslanders deserve better.”

Originally published as Government announces $50m program to tackle DNA backlog