DNA PROFILING

Mr RAU (Enfield) (15:14): Can the Minister for Police advise how DNA is enabling the police to solve more crimes?

The Hon. M.J. WRIGHT (Lee—Minister for Police, Minister for Emergency Services, Minister for Recreation, Sport and Racing) (15:14): I thank the member for Enfield for his question. DNA profiling is the single most important advancement in police investigation techniques since the development of fingerprint classification systems. The Rann government has a good story to tell in terms of the use of DNA.

We changed the law to force all prisoners in South Australian gaols to be DNA tested. We also introduced the toughest DNA laws in the country which has meant that DNA can be taken from any person suspected of having committed an indictable offence or any summary offence punishable by imprisonment. We also changed the laws to allow all lawfully obtained profiles to be permanently retained. Currently, the only jurisdiction to have similar legislation is the United Kingdom. Its laws were changed in May 2001 to allow profiles to be retained. This followed two cases that demonstrated the potential value of the retention of profiles on the database.

Since 14 May 2007, when the second round of amendments to the Criminal Law (Forensic Procedures) Act 1998 came into operation, removing procedural technicalities that unduly complicated the procedures and limited the law enforcement objective of the act, the suspect/offender index of the state's DNA database has increased from 21,451 profiles to 53,061—an increase of 147 per cent.

In the 12 months to 31 March 2009, around 20,000 profiles were added to the suspect/offender index. In August 2007, South Australia signed an agreement linking us to the National Crime Investigation DNA Database which enables our police to share information freely with the commonwealth and other states and territories. As at 31 January 2009, this database contained 327,538 person profiles.

As the number of DNA profiles on the database begins to grow, the number of DNA matches reported also begins to increase, illustrating the potential intelligence value of the database. Between 1 January 2008 and 31 December 2008, the DNA Management Section prepared and disseminated 1,110 DNA investigation packages that linked a person to a crime scene. These packages resulted in 498 offences being charged which may have otherwise not been cleared.

DNA Management Section now processes between 1,600 and 2,000 DNA mouth swabs per month. By comparison, for the full 12 months up to 30 June 2007, only 6,718 DNA mouth swabs were processed. The collection of DNA samples will help prevent future crimes. An offender who is not caught quickly remains free to commit more crimes. This is a downward spiral. Police now have the tools at hand to catch these criminals. Through tough legislation, advanced technology and improved policing practices, DNA has meant that more crimes are cleared up ensuring South Australia is a safer place.