Received

A Queensland government-run forensic laboratory refused to test more than 21,000 evidence samples, including almost a third from murder and rape scenes, arguing they did not meet DNA thresholds.

Inspector David Neville, manager of the Queensland Police Service DNA unit, told the Commission of Inquiry into Forensic DNA Testing the samples collected between 2018 and 2021 were ruled "insufficient DNA for testing" and never fully examined.

But the lab did test 1410 of the samples from major crime scenes at the request of police, with 549 samples yielding a DNA profile.

"So, in excess of a 30 per cent success rate (from the 1410 samples). There remain some 7000 samples from major crimes that have not been tested," Insp Neville told the inquiry on Tuesday.

Queensland Police have since formally requested the remaining samples be examined for potential positive results by the Forensic and Scientific Services lab.

Most of the outstanding samples were classified as "volume crime" and primarily collected from less serious or property crime scenes.

Insp Neville said that of the 21,000 untested samples, he estimated about a third - some 7500 - would have been collected from the scenes of murder, violence and sexual assault.

Samples from unsolved sexual assaults that were retested returned a "disturbingly high" 66 per cent success rate, after being previously ruled insufficient for testing.

Insp Neville said once he identified the discrepancy in results as a "real issue", police were instructed to request samples from major crimes be re-tested.

"I told my staff if you get that result (insufficient DNA for testing) for major crimes, just send it back to the lab for testing," he said.

In other evidence, Insp Neville, who holds a master's degree in forensic science, agreed a forensic laboratory paper outlining changes to DNA threshold limits was complex.

"I'll be honest with you, and maybe this is just my intellect, but I didn't completely understand it," he admitted.

Scientists at the lab also suggested the police service didn't fully understand the scientific process being carried out, and the possible implications it would have on the treatment of DNA evidence.

The probe into Queensland's DNA lab comes after the release of an interim report identifying serious shortfalls in testing thresholds.

The inquiry has been told threshold testing changes were first proposed in 2017 as a way to increase testing speed and lower costs.

Managing scientist Cathie Allen and team leader Justin Howes, who pushed for the change, were stood down after interim findings were released.

Insp Neville described Ms Allen as his managing counterpart at the forensic service, and the pair were in regular contact, as he tried to triage the number of samples sent to the laboratory.

The relationship deteriorated over time as he became "uncomfortable" with the tone of communications between the two departments.

"Cathie became quite aggressive or terse and said to me, 'you can either be my friend or my foe, but once you're my foe there is no coming back'," he told the commission.

Insp Neville said he tried to placate Ms Allen, so the departments could work together.

"She said 'no we don't, we're in different government departments' and that other government departments don't get along and still get the work done."

Insp Neville said it was the first time he had experienced that type of confrontation with another government department.

The pair later met to discuss their differences and Ms Allen, he told the hearing, warned the police service not to interfere.

"I have a distinct memory that I was told basically not to interfere or try to influence the operations," he said.

Earlier on Tuesday, laboratory staff members testified to raising serious concerns about changes to the testing regime but their feedback was ignored.

Senior scientist Kylie Rika told the commission the work culture at Forensic and Scientific Services, operating under the Health Department, was "quite toxic".

The hearing continues in Brisbane on Wednesday ahead of the commission's final report due in December.

© AAP 2022

The group behind the massive Optus breach has scrapped its ransom demand and claims to have deleted the 11 million customers' records it scraped from the telco's website.

The attempt to force Optus to pay $US1 million ($A1.54 million) by Friday was dropped hours after the group released a batch of 10,000 Australian customers' sensitive details on a data breach forum on the clear web.

The illegally obtained information includes passport, Medicare and driver's licence numbers, dates of birth, home addresses and information about whether a person is renting or living with parents.

"Too many eyes. We will not sale (sic) data to anyone. We cant if we even want to: personally deleted data from drive (Only copy)," the group said on Tuesday.

They said they would have alerted Optus to its vulnerability if the telco had a secure method to contact or a bug bounty.

The batch released on Tuesday was still online as of 4.30pm AEST.

Australians caught out in the massive Optus data breach may be able to change their driver's licence numbers following the cyber attack.

At a Labor caucus meeting on Tuesday, Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus was asked about the trove of information stolen, and said the option was being considered with the nation's privacy commissioner.

He said the commissioner wasn't notified by Optus of the breach involving millions of customers until late Friday, the day after it was first reported.

An ongoing privacy review will be completed this year.

Mr Dreyfus told parliament the breach "should never have happened" and the FBI were assisting Australian authorities in their investigation.

In a statement, Home Affairs Minister Clare O'Neil said she was "incredibly concerned" about reports that Medicare numbers were now being offered for free and for ransom.

"Medicare numbers were never advised to form part of compromised information from the breach," she said.

"Consumers have a right to know exactly what individual personal information has been compromised in Optus' communications to them."

Opposition defence spokesman Andrew Hastie described the government's response to the hack as "lacklustre and slow".

"The government isn't responsible for Optus and their data breach, but they're sure as hell responsible for coordinating a response," he said.

Two people whose details were exposed in Tuesday's release of Optus data and who asked to remain anonymous, expressed frustration that it contained personal data that, unlike bank details, couldn't easily be changed.

"No one can put a price on privacy but Optus has certainly lost mine," a Melbourne man told AAP.

"We'll find out how easy a mistake it was to make and to not make but c'mon, guys. Really?" said a Canberra man who signed to Optus in 2021.

A check of 12 random email addresses against records held by Have I Been Pwned found nine had not previously been exposed in breaches.

Optus said it was the victim of a sophisticated attack - a claim dismissed by Ms O'Neil.

A federal police investigation has been launched into the data breach.

Opposition cyber security spokesman James Paterson told Sky News the government bore some responsibility and criticised its response to the hack as "slow".

Optus said it will offer "the most affected" customers the chance to take up a one-year subscription to credit monitoring service Equifax Protect at no cost.

© AAP 2022

Another oversized rate hike is looking more likely in light of troubling global economic conditions putting central banks under pressure to keep hiking rates aggressively.

Some economists have tweaked their forecasts upwards ahead of the Reserve Bank of Australia's October cash rate decision.

The RBA said it would choose between a 25 or 50 basis point hike when it meets next week, with the central bank flagging the gloomy global outlook and consumer spending habits as two main sources of uncertainty that would guide its decision.

Royal Bank of Canada economist Su-Lin Ong says it will still be a close call but she is now leaning towards another 50 basis point lift.

She said central banks around the world remained hawkish, with the new UK chancellor's "mini-budget" improving the odds of another large interest rate lift next month.

"With the Australian dollar falling further as global rate expectations reset, adding to domestic inflationary pressures, the RBA remains under pressure to also deliver outsized rate hike," Ms Ong said.

However, Ms Ong says the RBA's 'neutral rate' - the level that will neither stimulate nor deflate economic activity - will likely be lower than its global counterparts because households are highly indebted and many homeowners have variable rate mortgages.

ANZ economists have stuck with their prediction that the RBA's tightening cycle will end when it hits a neutral rate of 3.35 per cent but said there's a good chance it will need to go higher.

"The RBA seems ready to slow the pace of hikes, but global experience suggests more work needs to be done," ANZ economists said.

"We expect the cash rate to rise to 3.35 per cent by year end, but the risks are growing that a higher cash rate will be needed to quash inflation."

Australia's economic troubles are far from over, with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development downgrading Australia's economic position.

The OECD is now projecting real GDP to grow by 4.1 per cent in 2022, down 0.1 percentage points from its June forecasts, and two per cent in 2023, which is 0.5 per cent lower than predictions made mid-year.

Core inflation in Australia is also expected to hit 5.4 per cent in 2022 before falling to 4.3 per cent in 2023.

The OECD's economic outlook report showed inflation spreading widely across many economies since Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

"The effects of the war and the continuing impacts of COVID-19 outbreaks in some parts of the world have dented growth and put additional upward pressure on prices, above all for energy and food," the report said.

Despite the doom and gloom, consumers have regained some confidence in the economy.

The 2.1 per cent boost in sentiment was driven by an uplift in confidence in Australia's economic conditions.

'Current economic conditions' jumped 4.8 per cent, according to ANZ-Roy Morgan's weekly consumer confidence survey, and and 'future economic conditions' lifted six per cent.

The final score of 87.8 was the highest in four months but was still well below the long-term monthly average of 111.9.

ANZ economist Catherine Birch said strong spending in the face of successive rate hikes has quelled fears of a sharp downturn.

A fall in inflation expectations also buoyed the indicator, despite motorists bracing for a surge in fuel prices in the coming weeks when the fuel excise is reinstated.

© AAP 2022