Australasian Forensic Science Summit 2016: core capability and capacity towards 2030

Abstract

From 7 to 8 December 2016, a forensic summit was held at the AFP facilities in Canberra under the theme of ‘Towards 2030’. The aim of that summit was to critically evaluate, through plenary presentations and five discussion forums, how the forensic science capability of Australia and New Zealand is placed to respond to a dynamic and complex future. One of the discussion forums met under the theme Core Capability and Capacity. The group was tasked with addressing questions such as: what is forensic science and what are our main objectives? What are our core capabilities? Are they changing or likely to change towards 2030? This article presents a high level summary of the discussion held around the strategic issue of capability and capacity. It concludes with statements representing the outcomes of the working group discussions. From these statements, recommendations will be developed to influence future work by the forensic science community of Australia and New Zealand.