Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
AAP
AAP
National
Robyn Wuth

Qld Police trusted advice on DNA testing

Superintendent Dale Frieberg has told a DNA inquiry she didn't understand proposed testing changes. (Jono Searle/AAP PHOTOS) (AAP)

The Queensland Police Service trusted the advice from a government-run forensic laboratory, which drove changes that resulted in thousands of pieces of crime scene evidence going tested.

A Commission of Inquiry into Forensic DNA Testing heard on Thursday that senior officers in charge of the police DNA unit had only a limited understanding of DNA testing.

Superintendent Dale Frieberg, Operations Commander of the Forensic Services Group, told the inquiry she didn't have scientific qualifications and didn't understand the testing changes proposed by the Forensic and Scientific Services lab.

The lab introduced changes to DNA threshold limits to save time and money and improve efficiency, which meant that from early 2018 thousands of crime scene samples weren't tested.

"I wouldn't have understood it the way in hindsight I should have understood it," Supt Frieberg admitted to the inquiry.

Documents tendered to the commission show Supt Frieberg agreed with the changes, which she told the inquiry had been influenced by advice from Queensland Health.

"I guess as part of my role as a superintendent, and you know, in any government department, it's about relationships," she said.

"It's about trust.

"We (the Queensland Police Service) paid $3 million a year to Queensland Health to provide us with expert advice ... the options paper has come from people who are experts, and I trusted that advice."

The $3 million was part of the annual police budget for forensic laboratory services, the inquiry was told.

Supt Frieberg said she wasn't the "ultimate decision maker" and her assumption was that there would be further consultation before the DNA threshold changes were implemented.

However, former Forensic and Scientific Services lab executive director Paul Csoban said staff held a number of meetings with police and he believed they understood the testing changes.

"They seemed to understand the changes, and there was no great pushback on it," Mr Csoban said.

The decision to accept the changes was ultimately a Queensland Police Service decision, he added.

"I believe that this was a matter for a QPS decision, it was not a matter for Queensland Health to make that call and I say this because, very frequently, we were told that the police had the final say on the samples and how they were treated and what was being tested."

The probe into Queensland's DNA scandal was sparked by the release of an interim report identifying serious shortfalls in testing thresholds.

More than 21,000 evidence samples, including almost a third from murder and rape scenes, collected between 2018 and 2021 were ruled "insufficient DNA for testing" and never fully examined, the inquiry was told earlier this week.

Investigators relying on the lab results routinely asked for further testing on major crimes after testing failed to identify any DNA profile.

Senior police were so alarmed by the repeated testing failures a formal request was issued for the threshold limits to be formally reviewed.

Managing scientist Cathie Allen and team leader Justin Howes, who pushed for the changes, were stood down after the interim findings were released.

The hearing continues before Commissioner Walter Sofronoff in Brisbane ahead of the commission's final report due in December.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.