In 2022, a group of eminent forensic scientists published The Sydney Declaration - Revisiting the essence of forensic science through its fundamental principles in Forensic Science International. The Sydney Declaration was delivered to revisit “the essence of forensic science, its purpose, and fundamental principles”. At its heart, revisiting these foundational principles is hoped to “benefit forensic science as a whole to be more relevant, effective and reliable”.But can these principles be translated operationally by a forensic services provider to achieve the benefits prescribed? How do we make the leap from a theoretical concept and begin to put it into practice to bring about the real and meaningful change that the declaration hopes to achieve?In this paper we will attempt to discuss how the Australian Federal Police (AFP) Forensics Command has reflected on the Sydney Declaration by relating reforms developed and implemented to our operating model with some selected principles. We hope to show that while the Sydney Declaration could be perceived as academic and disconnected from operations, it has the potential to impact and positively influence reforms and changes for forensic science providers. The AFP Forensics Command experience shows the operational relevance of The Sydney Declaration.

I begin this editorial by saying how honoured I am to be offering it as the current President of the Australian Academy of Forensic Sciences (the Academy). I am closing in on 30 years in the Forensic profession and, if there’s one constant in my career, it has been that at each different phase, there are more scientific and operational opportunities and a more diverse and critical set of challenges and problems that our employers, our justice system and our communities, require us to engage with, and hopefully, resolve. In this phase of my career, it is no different. In March, I was asked to again lead AFP Forensics as it is re-established as a stand-alone command within a portfolio including our intelligence, specialist capability, and international commands. Whilst I have had this leadership responsibility since 2015, it has always been shared alongside other critical areas, such as Intelligence, ICT, and Cyber Security. So it excites me greatly to be able to focus solely on Forensic Science again, and even bring to my role new knowledge from my experience leading these aligned operational and technical areas. This is particularly so given the strategic and operational challenges we currently face, and the unprecedented scale and complexity that has arisen as a consequence of the technological age. It is also timely, therefore, that my responsibilities as President of the Academy, and as the current Chair of our ACT Chapter, have increased in prominence. I feel there is a strong confluence and mutual benefit there. I will certainly look to bring insights from my work in the international, Commonwealth and National environment to inform, wherever possible, our work, together, as an Academy. I will admit to feeling a heavy burden of expectation, built up by those who have held this position before me. As a practitioner, and Academy member, I have always regarded this position and the actions of our Past Presidents, to be highly influential on the standing and effectiveness of our field, particularly in the eyes of the judiciary and the wider community. I am glad that I have their example to guide me, and also their support. And I would like to mention specifically our two immediate Past Presidents Professor James Robertson and Dr Yvonne Skinner, who remain as advisors and role models for me. I thank them both for their encouragement and support, and, of course, for their service in their tenures as Academy President. Having taken this opportunity to pen this Editorial, my intention is summarize, from my perspective, some key aspects of the current operating environment for forensic science. I will do this at a relatively high level, and I must declare that – not at all in the spirit of good forensic testimony – my input with be both selective and subjective. But, I hope nonetheless, that it will paint a reasonable picture of some of the key challenges and opportunities that we collectively face. AUSTRALIAN JOURNAL OF FORENSIC SCIENCES 2023, VOL. 55, NO. 3, 285–294 https://doi.org/10.1080/00450618.2023.2200913

Forensic DNA analysis is dependent on comparing the known and the unknown. Expand the number of known profiles, and the likelihood of a successful match increases. Forensic use of DNA is moving towards comparing samples of unknown origin with publicly available genetic data, such as the records held by genetic genealogy providers. Use of forensic genetic genealogy has yielded a number of recent high-profile successes but has raised ethical and privacy concerns. Navigating family trees is complex, even more so when combined with a comparison of genetic relationships. This intelligence-gathering process has led to occasional false leads, and its use also risks a public backlash, similar to concerns over Cambridge Analytica. A cautious approach to use of this technique is therefore warranted.

Forensic science has been evolving towards a separation of more and more specialised tasks, with forensic practitioners increasingly identifying themselves with only one sub-discipline or task of forensic science. Such divisions are viewed as a threat to the advancement of science because they tend to polarise researchers and tear apart scientific communities. The objective of this article is to highlight that a piece of information is not either intelligence or evidence, and that a forensic scientist is not either an investigator or an evaluator, but that these notions must all be applied in conjunction to successfully understand a criminal problem or solve a case. To capture the scope, strength and contribution of forensic science, this paper proposes a progressive but non-linear continuous model that could serve as a guide for forensic reasoning and processes. In this approach, hypothetico-deductive reasoning, iterative thinking and the notion of entropy are used to frame the continuum, situate forensic scientists' operating contexts and decision points. Situations and examples drawn from experience and practice are used to illustrate the approach. The authors argue that forensic science, as a discipline, should not be defined according to the context it serves (i.e. an investigation, a court decision or an intelligence process), but as a general, scientific and holistic trace-focused practice that contributes to a broad range of goals in various contexts. Since forensic science does not work in isolation, the approach also provides a useful basis as to how forensic scientists should contribute to collective and collaborative problem-solving to improve justice and security.

The ability to predict physical characteristics from DNA presents significant opportunities for forensic science. Giving scientists an ability to make predictions about the donor of genetic material at a crime scene can then give investigators new intelligence leads for cold cases where DNA evidence has not identified any person of interest. However, the interpretation of this new form of intelligence requires careful analysis. The responses to an online survey, conducted in 2018-19, were used to examine how actors in the criminal justice system assess and interpret different types of DNA evidence and intelligence. The groups of focus for the survey were investigators, legal practitioners and the general public (as potential jurors). Several statistically significant effects were identified based on occupation and whether an individual had prior exposure to new DNA technology. Monitoring how those involved in interpreting reports from different types of DNA evidence and intelligence interpret them helps to ensure that decisions are made based on a sound understanding of their capabilities and limitations and may inform broader training and awareness strategies.

Analysis of information about physical characteristics, biogeographical ancestry or common genetic ancestors from crime scene DNA is a technique aimed at informing an intelligence process, rather than obtaining evidence for a criminal trial. This intelligence supports tactical or operational decision-making. Like other forms of intelligence there is a risk for it to be misconstrued or for its investigative value to be misunderstood. The potential for intelligence derived from DNA to divert investigative resources or result in unnecessary intrusions into individual privacy can be mitigated by applying an appropriate intelligence doctrine. Establishing an appropriate framework could reduce the need for government regulation of these emerging capabilities in the context of law enforcement use.

Forensic genetic genealogy has moved into limited operational use in the United States, and received international attention following the arrest of a suspect alleged to be the notorious 'Golden State Killer'. The interest in this emerging area has seen the development of online courses to train investigators to pursue forensic genetic genealogy leads and the emergence of service providers marketing directly to law enforcement. Forensic genetic genealogy is an intelligence capability and can draw on existing intelligence doctrine. The power of genetic genealogy requires consideration of relevant standards, national or international. The development of these standards requires close consideration of public trust and privacy issues, including the application of the General Data Protection Regulation in Europe and constitutional issues in countries such as the United States. It also requires a consideration of potential regulatory mechanisms and options.

Law enforcement is moving from targeted forensic DNA analysis to more extensive use of genomics in support of criminal investigations and for related purposes, such as the identification of human remains. The field of forensic genomics is data-driven and will continue to evolve as new capabilities are developed and new datasets are made accessible. Intelligence capabilities using forensic genomics include the prediction of externally visible characteristics and biogeographical ancestry, and the relatively new field of forensic genetic genealogy. This technique expands these capabilities by accessing public genetic datasets to identify potential relatives of the donor of DNA relating to an investigation. This exploitation of public datasets poses a range of ethical, legal and privacy challenges. The extended reach of these techniques expands these issues to entire families, across multiple jurisdictions. These legal challenges increase as attention turns to much larger, but less accessible, genetic data held by direct-to-consumer genetic genealogy providers.

Forensic scientists around the world are adopting new technology platforms capable of efficiently analysing a larger proportion of the human genome. Undertaking this analysis could provide significant operational benefits, particularly in giving investigators more information about the donor of genetic material, a particularly useful investigative lead. Such information could include predicting externally visible characteristics such as eye and hair colour, as well as biogeographical ancestry. This article looks at the adoption of this new technology from a privacy perspective, using this to inform and critique the application of a Privacy Impact Assessment to this emerging technology. Noting the benefits and limitations, the article develops a number of themes that would influence a model Privacy Impact Assessment as a contextual framework for forensic laboratories and law enforcement agencies considering implementing forensic DNA phenotyping for operational use.

Leaders and experts from the forensic science community of Australia and New Zealand recently congregated to hold the 2016 Australasian Forensic Science Summit. The summit was a rare opportunity to critically evaluate the current state of forensic science against the drivers of change in our external influencing environment. This paper summarises the contextual information provided by representatives of the criminal justice, law enforcement, forensic science and science and technology sectors. It summarises this content and begins to explore at a high level possible implications for our field. It makes the case for change and establishes some of the external factors that as a field we will be required to confront.

Use of DNA in forensic science will be significantly influenced by new technology in coming years. Massively parallel sequencing and forensic genomics will hasten the broadening of forensic DNA analysis beyond short tandem repeats for identity towards a wider array of genetic markers, in applications as diverse as predictive phenotyping, ancestry assignment, and full mitochondrial genome analysis. With these new applications come a range of legal and policy implications, as forensic science touches on areas as diverse as 'big data', privacy and protected health information. Although these applications have the potential to make a more immediate and decisive forensic intelligence contribution to criminal investigations, they raise policy issues that will require detailed consideration if this potential is to be realised. The purpose of this paper is to identify the scope of the issues that will confront forensic and user communities.

For the past decade, the National Institute of Forensic Science (NIFS) has been involved in and committed to raising the awareness of forensic intelligence in Australia. In this context, a discussion paper was written and distributed across Australia and New Zealand covering forensic intelligence principles and offering a 'quick reference' guide. In addition, NIFS jointly facilitated a set of papers on forensic intelligence that was published in the Australian Journal of Forensic Sciences. The implementation of forensic intelligence requires substantial planning and adaptation within an organization. There must be commitment within an agency to refocus outcomes so that crime prevention and disruption become priorities along with the traditional focus on the court. This implies many changes including a shift from a single case focus to a multi-case focus and a breaking down of existing interdisciplinary silos. At a time of budget restrictions, the resources to implement these changes are often difficult to identify. However, established intelligence cells within forensic science facilities are realizing the benefits to be gained from this approach. The primary aim of this paper is to raise awareness on the principles and practice of forensic intelligence through the collation and integration of recently published findings and observations. It is intended to provide introductory principles to personnel of various levels and disciplines involved in law enforcement, including forensic scientists, police officers, and those involved in administering the criminal justice system.

The growth of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) intelligence databases has increased the involvement of forensic science in law enforcement. DNA intelligence databases frequently produce links in a wide range of crime types, which, when analyzed, provide a repository of information on crimes and criminals. The ability of DNA to incriminate or exonerate was extended during the 1990s by the advent of DNA intelligence databases. Typically DNA intelligence databases consist of two separate collections of profiles: a database of the profiles of individuals who have either volunteered or been compelled to submit samples and a database of profiles obtained from samples from crime scenes or exhibits associated with an alleged offence. As the technology that forms the basis for DNA intelligence databases is specialized, the operational components have remained the responsibility of forensic biology laboratories. Forensic DNA databases have altered the landscape of the criminal justice system and reshaped the field of forensic science.

Evolutionary and cultural history can affect the genetic characteristics of a population and influences the frequency of different variants at a particular genetic marker (allele frequency). These characteristics directly influence the strength of forensic DNA evidence and make the availability of suitable allele frequency information for every discrete country or jurisdiction highly relevant. Population sub-structure within Indonesia has not been well characterised but should be expected given the complex geographical, linguistic and cultural architecture of the Indonesian population. Here we use forensic short tandem repeat (STR) markers to identify a number of distinct genetic subpopulations within Indonesia and calculate appropriate population sub-structure correction factors. This data represents the most comprehensive investigation of population sub-structure within Indonesia to date using these markers. The results demonstrate that significant sub-structure is present within the Indonesian population and must be accounted for using island specific allele frequencies and corresponding sub-structure correction factors in the calculation of forensic DNA match statistics.

High resolution melting (HRM) analysis is a simple, cost effective, closed tube SNP genotyping technique with high throughput potential. The effectiveness of HRM for forensic SNP genotyping was assessed with five commercially available HRM kits evaluated on the ViiA™ 7 Real Time PCR instrument. Four kits performed satisfactorily against forensically relevant criteria. One was further assessed to determine the sensitivity, reproducibility, and accuracy of HRM SNP genotyping. The manufacturer's protocol using 0.5 ng input DNA and 45 PCR cycles produced accurate and reproducible results for 17 of the 19 SNPs examined. Problematic SNPs had GC rich flanking regions which introduced additional melting domains into the melting curve (rs1800407) or included homozygotes that were difficult to distinguish reliably (rs16891982; a G to C SNP). A proof of concept multiplexing experiment revealed that multiplexing a small number of SNPs may be possible after further investigation. HRM enables genotyping of a number of SNPs in a large number of samples without extensive optimization. However, it requires more genomic DNA as template in comparison to SNaPshot®. Furthermore, suitably modifying pre‐existing forensic intelligence SNP panels for HRM analysis may pose difficulties due to the properties of some SNPs.

Molecular biology has evolved far beyond that which could have been predicted at the time DNA identity testing was established. Indeed we should now perhaps be referring to "forensic molecular biology." Aside from DNAs established role in identifying the "who" in crime investigations, other developments in medical and developmental molecular biology are now ripe for application to forensic challenges. The impact of DNA methylation and other post-fertilization DNA modifications, plus the emerging role of small RNAs in the control of gene expression, is re-writing our understanding of human biology. It is apparent that these emerging technologies will expand forensic molecular biology to allow for inferences about "when" a crime took place and "what" took place. However, just as the introduction of DNA identity testing engendered many challenges, so the expansion of molecular biology into these domains will raise again the issues of scientific validity, interpretation, probative value, and infringement of personal liberties. This Commentary ponders some of these emerging issues, and presents some ideas on how they will affect the conduct of forensic molecular biology in the foreseeable future.

ABSTRACTFloodplain habitats provide critical spawning and rearing habitats for many large‐river fishes. The paradigm that floodplains are essential habitats is often a key reason for restoring altered rivers to natural flow regimes. However, few studies have documented spatial and temporal utilization of floodplain habitats by adult fish of sport or commercial management interest or assessed obligatory access to floodplain habitats for species' persistence. In this study, we applied telemetry techniques to examine adult fish movements between floodplain and mainstem habitats, paired with intensive light trap sampling of larval fish in these same habitats, to assess the relationships between riverine flows and fish movement and spawning patterns in restored and unmodified floodplain distributaries of the Apalachicola River, Florida. Our intent is to inform resource managers on the relationships between the timing, magnitude and duration of flow events and fish spawning as part of river management actions. Our results demonstrate spawning by all study species in floodplain and mainstem river habitat types, apparent migratory movements of some species between these habitats, and distinct spawning events for each study species on the basis of fish movement patterns and light trap catches. Additionally,Micropterusspp.,Lepomisspp. and, to a lesser degree,Minytrema melanopsused floodplain channel habitat that was experimentally reconnected to the mainstem within a few weeks of completing the restoration. This result is of interest to managers assessing restoration activities to reconnect these habitats as part of riverine restoration programmes globally. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.