Australasian forensic science summit 2016: the external future context and the case for change

Abstract

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.