Queensland’s state forensic services laboratory has repeated an error which led to “one of the greatest failures of a justice system in the world”, affecting evidence in thousands of criminal cases including rapes and murders.
The latest testing failure was revealed in a review into Forensic Services Queensland released on Monday, which also found that hundreds of rape victims were waiting “over 12 months” for the lab to test rape kits, a process that should be completed “ideally within five days”.
In 2022, the first of two inquiries into Forensic Services Queensland found that the laboratory’s threshold for testing was set too low, calling into question DNA evidence used in thousands of criminal cases, including for crimes such as rape and murder.
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On 19 November last year, the laboratory implemented a new threshold for testing for DNA.
But according to a review by forensic scientist Prof Kirsty Wright and former FBI expert Dr Bruce Budowle, tabled in parliament on Monday, the new limit was again incorrect.
“After introduction of the new DNA threshold, a Priority 1 crime scene sample from a violent unresolved crime was not fully tested because it fell below the threshold,” Wright’s report found.
“[Queensland police] requested for it to be fully tested, and it provided a usable DNA profile that assisted the investigation.”
Priority 1 samples refer to evidence used in “major crime cases”, as opposed to “volume crimes” like robbery.
The report also recommended the lab immediately stop testing all rape kits, due to concerns over the reliability of its results.
There were 511 untested rape kits in Queensland as of September 2024, it found.
The report describes the mismanagement of the then Queensland Health laboratory between 2007 and 2023 as “one of the greatest failures of a justice system in the world”, judging that “many thousands of victims had been denied justice, and the communities’ trust in forensic DNA services lost”.
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The review also found that the laboratory was “a dirty lab” and was known to be contaminated.
The state government announced it would appoint a new expert team to overhaul forensic services led by former New South Wales police commissioner Mick Fuller, with the ongoing involvement of the review’s authors.
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In Australia, the national family violence counselling service is on 1800 737 732. In the UK, call the national domestic abuse helpline on 0808 2000 247, or visit Women’s Aid. In the US, the domestic violence hotline is 1-800-799-SAFE (7233). Other international helplines may be found via www.befrienders.org
