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Thousands of serious criminal cases in Queensland will need to be reviewed after an inquiry found the forensic lab failed to properly test DNA samples for years because of "grave maladministration involving dishonesty".

Former judge Walter Sofronoff has recommended Forensic and Scientific Services be restructured in his report, published on Tuesday after a four-month public inquiry.

He found lab managers had focused on speed rather than accuracy in DNA testing and "that scourge has invaded" the validation of process and equipment used, time management and resources.

"Serious problems have existed within the laboratory for many years, some of them amounting to grave maladministration involving dishonesty," Mr Sofronoff's report says.

The former Court of Appeal president had no doubt the lab's failures to obtain all the available DNA evidence from crime scene samples had affected criminal cases and court trials.

"In most cases that will have reduced the prospects of conviction by a failure to obtain evidence which could support a complaint," the report says.

"It is possible, but unlikely that the failures could have resulted in a wrong conviction."

Mr Sofronoff said "thousands of cases" should be reviewed, to see if crime scene samples need to be retested for DNA, potentially by a panel including a scientist, a police officer, a prosecutor and a lawyer.

The report largely blames the failures on forensic services manager Cathie Allen, who has been in the role since 2008 without adequate oversight.

Over time she distorted the aims of the lab and placed obstacles in the way of scientists trying to do their work, it says.

Ms Allen tried to cover up mounting problems with superiors, lab staff and police using a "deliberately crafted series of lies and misleading dodges", the report says.

"This state of affairs has been caused by both the structure of her role within FSS and her personal performance of it," it said.

"As a result, the department leadership was not equipped to grapple with the real problem: a malignancy in the scientific management of FSS."

Mr Sofronoff recommends the lab be restructured with an independent head scientist in charge with a focus on scientific integrity and serving the criminal justice system.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said she would consider responses to the findings and commended scientists who spoke out.

But she said Ms Allen deliberately misleading and lying to cabinet ministers "was very a serious finding".

"I always believe that you should be able to get full and frank advice, but what we're seeing here is someone, according to the report, who deliberately lied and I won't help that," the premier said.

"I won't cop that from anyone,"

Ms Palaszczuk ordered the inquiry after potential problems at the lab were brought to light in The Australian's podcast series about the killing of Shandee Blackburn nine years ago.

The 23-year-old was stabbed more than 20 times on her way home from work in Mackay with her former boyfriend John Perros charged with her murder but acquitted in 2017.

© AAP 2022

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Former foreign minister Marise Payne will appear as a witness in an ongoing royal commission into the failed robodebt scheme.

Ms Payne was human services minister at the time the program was introduced, alongside then social services minister Scott Morrison.

The former prime minister will also face the inquiry on Wednesday as a witness over his role in the debacle.

On Monday, the commission heard from senior ATO staff who expressed concerns in 2017 that data provided by the tax office was being incorrectly used to calculate debts.

ATO director of data management Tyson Fawcett, who has been with the agency for over 30 years, explained averaging annual income data to arrive at a fortnightly rate did not work.

Last week, former Services Australia general manager of business integrity Mark Withnell rejected a statement the controversial income averaging process, also known as "income smoothing", was fundamental to proposals for the scheme.

Mr Withnell denied memory of a 2015 meeting at which it has been claimed he was frustrated when told an income averaging debt calculation practice was not lawful.

Another former public servant, ex-Social Services employee Catherine Halbert, denied in her evidence manipulating the truth about the department's view on the scheme in 2015, insisting it did not endorse income smoothing.

Meanwhile, former Human Services secretary Kathryn Campbell told the commission she knew law changes were needed in 2015 to use an average income instead of actual income for debt calculation, but said Social Services was in charge of the matter rather than her department.

© AAP 2022

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Avatar: The Way of Water, Top Gun: Maverick and Elvis have been nominated for best drama film at the Golden Globe awards when the ceremony returns to television after a year off following a diversity and ethics scandal.

The Banshees of Inisherin, a nominee for best comedy or musical film, led all movies with eight nominations on Monday from members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, the group that hands out the Globes and announces the nominations.

The Avatar and Top Gun sequels will face off against Elvis, Steven Spielberg's semi-autobiographical film The Fabelmans, and Tar, the story of a manipulative conductor, for the top prize of best drama film.

Banshees, a dark comedy about a man trying to repair a friendship, will compete with Everything Everywhere All at Once, Babylon, Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery and Triangle of Sadness.

Australian Cate Blanchett was nominated for best drama actress for the lead role in Tar alongside Viola Davis in The Woman King and Ana de Armas for playing Marilyn Monroe in Blonde.

The Globes have been known as a glitzy, booze-fuelled ceremony that kicks off Hollywood's awards season and helps propel nominees and winners in their quest for Oscars.

But the Globes were tainted after a 2021 Los Angeles Times investigation probed the association's practices and revealed the organisation had no black members.

Tom Cruise returned his Golden Globe statues in protest, and longtime broadcaster NBC dropped the 2022 telecast.

The Comcast-owned network agreed to air the Globes again in 2023 after the organisation made reforms.

The ceremony will take place on January 10 and will also stream on Peacock.

Best actor nominees included Austin Butler for his portrayal of music legend Elvis Presley, Daniel Craig for Glass Onion and Colin Farrell for Banshees.

In television categories, comedy Abbott Elementary scored eight nominations, followed by royal family drama The Crown.

Searchlight Pictures, owned by Walt Disney Co, led all movie distributors with 12 nominations.

In TV categories, Warner Bros Discovery's HBO Max and Netflix Inc tied with 14 nods each.

© RAW 2022

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The expected end of interest rate hikes could soon see the property market rebound.

The residential property market has been cooling off from lofty heights reached in the late stages of the pandemic, falling 2.3 per cent in the year to November.

Capital city prices have led the drop off, falling 5.2 per cent in 12 months, whereas regional dwelling values actually increased 3.3 per cent.

The slowdown has been triggered by one of the fastest interest rate tightening cycles in history.

But with interest rates either at or close to their finale, CoreLogic's Eliza Owen said housing value declines could find a floor in the new year.

Ms Owens said a slowdown in the pace of decline suggested the peak of dwelling value falls was over, although it's possible price falls would accelerate again, especially if the Reserve Bank continued hiking rates in the new year.

"As we move into 2023, there continues to be a mix of headwinds and tailwinds for housing market performance," she said.

On the subject of tailwinds, Ms Owen said the looming fixed-rate mortgage cliff could trigger more sales as homeowners were bumped from a fixed rate of about two per cent to a variable rate of more like five or six per cent.

For lower-income households less capable of absorbing this kind of mortgage shock, this could motivate more sales and possibly arrears.

Ms Owen said mortgage holders were moving into uncharted territory as the cash rate closed in on the financial regulator's three per cent serviceability buffers introduced to make sure borrowers could withstand higher interest rates.

"But unemployment levels remain at historic lows, which plays a role in serviceability, helping to keep a lid on mortgage arrears," she said.

High rents and falling prices are also likely to attract more investors and first-home buyers into the market, which will help support a recovery in late 2023.

Looking back at the year that was, Ms Owen said it was interesting to see Adelaide and Perth showing resilience to the 2022 downturn.

The Adelaide market has dipped 0.9 per cent from the July peak but dwelling values across the city are still 13.4 per cent higher than this time last year.

For contrast, home prices fell 10.6 per cent in Sydney over the 12 months.

Adelaide's relative affordability well as low stock availability helped insulate the region from rising interest rates, the report said.

© AAP 2022