Two senior DNA lab staff stood down after damning inquiry findings

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has confirmed two senior staff members in the state’s forensic lab have been stood down, after the damning interim report of an inquiry set to begin public hearings next week.

Palaszczuk told reporters the decision, made by Queensland Health’s acting director-general Shaun Drummond on Wednesday, would stand until the findings of Walter Sofronoff’s commission of inquiry — due in December.

Queensland announced the inquiry in June, after police began reviewing sexual assault cases back to 2018 when a process at the lab changed, halting detailed testing of low-DNA samples for major crimes and reporting the results as containing no or insufficient information.

Sofronoff’s interim report found expert witness statements given by the Forensic and Scientific Services lab to courts and prosecutors had been “untrue” or “misleading” because more detail was probably able to be pulled from the samples.

The report warned that violent offenders might still be at large despite evidence against them, and some victims might never get justice.

Authorities are now set to reprocess DNA samples across what could be thousands of major crime cases, and statements given to courts and prosecutors will be updated.

“I also am aware today that two senior staff members in the forensic unit have been immediately stood down,” Palaszczuk said, referring further questions about the detail of their roles to Drummond.

“This is perhaps one of the most concerning reports that our state has seen, and we need to get to the bottom of it.”

The decision to stand down staff comes despite Sofronoff making no findings about the reason for the process change, and responsibility for this.

Health Minister Yvette D’Ath reiterated confidence in the lab and her department’s advice on Tuesday.

Comment has been sought from Queensland Health.

Palaszczuk told reporters she had no advice suggesting there was ministerial involvement in the decision to change testing procedures in the lab.

She refused to be drawn on the factors behind that decision, citing the need to let the inquiry conduct its work.

Shadow attorney-general Tim Nicholls said the findings “opened a Pandora’s box of trouble for the justice system in this state”.

Opposition spokesperson on prevention of domestic, family and sexual violence, Amanda Camm, called on D’Ath and Palaszczuk to apologise, after senior Labor government figures for months derided the LNP’s calls for the inquiry.

Queensland Law Society President Kara Thomson said the interim findings would have “wide-ranging effects” on criminal proceedings.

Julie Sarkozi, law reform and education practice director at Women’s Legal Service Queensland, said the situation underlined the need for a victim’s commission in the state — like other jurisdictions — to hear complaints and raises issues on behalf of people experiencing difficulties in the justice system.

Public hearings were set to begin from Monday, with the inquiry expected to call witnesses and examine the lab’s systems, its relationship with the Queensland Police Service — which partly funds the lab — and whether testing adhered to standards.

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