New laws regulating Queensland's fertility industry have been passed, including the establishment of a donor conception register. This comes amid intense scrutiny from the state opposition over a significant backlog in forensic testing.
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00:00A relief after a long fight for change as legislation passes Queensland Parliament to
00:08crack down on the fertility industry.
00:11Too many families have been affected by a lack of regulation when it comes to IVF and
00:19we need to ensure that this does not happen again.
00:22A licensing system will be introduced next year with non-compliant facilities to be shut
00:28down.
00:29A donor conception register will also be set up.
00:33This gives us the ability to access information and to get our genetic truth, to create our
00:37identity, to get our medical information.
00:40Meanwhile the LNP used one of the final question times before the state election to focus on
00:46forensic testing in Queensland.
00:49Two inquiries have been held into failures at the state-run lab, leading to thousands
00:55of criminal cases needing to be reviewed and a backlog of testing.
01:00Media reports have revealed the backlog of rape kits at Queensland's DNA lab is 20 times
01:06the size of Victoria, with hundreds of Queensland rape victims waiting more than a year for
01:12critical evidence to get justice.
01:15Since the effort to address that backlog commenced, the number of cases outstanding has been reduced
01:23by some 3,500 in the last six months.
01:28Following the inquiries, an advisory council was appointed to oversee forensic services.
01:34The state opposition has promised if elected it will appoint whistleblower scientist Dr
01:40Kirsty Wright to head a review into reforms at the forensics lab.
01:45We're looking at a broken lab looking to catch up on 15 years worth of criminal cases and
01:51that's simply an impossible task.
01:53So we're looking at a whole range of options.
01:56Dr Wright, who spoke out about failures at the lab, wasn't selected for one of the 11
02:01positions on the advisory council.