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Thousands of criminal DNA samples will be retested after an interim report exposed extraordinary flaws in the Queensland Forensic and Scientific Services laboratory and a 'potential miscarriage of justice'.

The commission of inquiry, headed by Walter Sofronoff, has delivered an interim report to the government outlining serious shortfalls in testing thresholds.

It found forensics at the state-run laboratory failed to test samples under a certain threshold, which could have identified partial or full DNA profiles.

The report has uncovered up to 10 per cent of samples classified as 'insufficient for processing' if further tested may lead to positive identification or potentially change the outcome of legal proceedings.

"There is a likelihood (with further processing) that some will find either partial or full DNA," Health Minister Yvette D'Ath told reporters on Tuesday.

Ms D'Ath said it was not clear why the thresholds in place between 2018 and June 2022 had been introduced, but she feared it might have led to a miscarriage of justice in some cases.

"These are very serious issues. I want answers. The government wants answers. And I have no doubt that Commissioner Sofronoff will leave no stone unturned to find out how this has occurred," she said.

"I want to know why the methodology has changed. I want to know who authorised it. I want to understand the reasoning behind it."

The minister said the next step would be to identify samples that may show partial or full DNA.

"We have no idea the number of samples yet, and we don't know how many of those will show sufficient DNA to warrant further consideration by QPS," Ms D'Ath said.

Once identified, the samples will be prioritised and undergo urgent retesting.

"What we do know is even if there's one, just one case, one victim, one alleged perpetrator where the DNA shows a connection, possibly to someone involved in a crime, then we have a responsibility to act and provide that person with justice in whatever way we can," Ms D'Ath said.

Queensland Police confirmed a task force had been established to "continue identifying and reviewing evidentiary samples for additional DNA testing with Queensland Health Forensic and Scientific Services".

Acting Deputy Commissioner Mark Wheeler said the number of samples was in the thousands.

"So there is a fair bit of work to get through," he told reporters on Tuesday.

"We look at the seriousness of the case first. We've got to prioritise. That's why we've set up a team who are experts in that area."

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said she was shocked by the findings.

"I am incredibly concerned, and that is why cabinet will be dealing with this interim report today," she said on Tuesday

Potential problems with the lab first came to light as a result of The Australian newspaper's podcast series about the slaying of Shandee Blackburn, a young woman killed at Mackay in 2013.

Concerns have been raised about a potential failure to test crucial forensic evidence, with specimens falling below a certain level reported as "no DNA detected'' or "DNA insufficient for further processing''.

DNA threshold limits in place since 2018 have since been removed.

The opposition said the potential bungling of DNA testing was extremely serious.

"Murderers, rapists, people who have committed sexual assault could potentially be walking free, because the forensic science services of Queensland weren't doing their job," Liberal National Party spokesman Tim Nicholls said.

Mr Sofronoff will deliver his final report in December.

© AAP 2022

Just a month after celebrating his 110th birthday, Australia's oldest man has died peacefully on the NSW South Coast.

Frank Mawer was born on August 15, 1912, and was living with his son Philip at Central Tilba when he went for his afternoon nap on Saturday and didn't wake up.

Another son, Barry, said his father's health went downhill after contracting COVID-19 several weeks ago.

"He lived life to the full even in recent months," Barry said in a statement on Tuesday.

"He insisted on sitting up for meals, he did his exercises every day and had plenty of visitors."

Former NSW premier and now HammondCare chief executive Mike Baird says Mr Mawer lived an "extraordinary life".

Until November Mr Mawer lived independently in his own apartment in Sydney, supported by HammondCare staff, and only moved to the South Coast to be with his son and his partner after a fall.

"Frank was the most inspiring individual, a gracious man and a man of faith," Mr Baird said.

Mr Mawer became the nation's oldest man in July after the death of Queensland's Dexter Kruger.

In 2020 Mr Mawer offered advice for living to a healthy old age: no smoking, no drinking and no gambling.

"These are three things you can choose. The way you live makes a difference," he said.

However, Mr Mawer confessed to one sweet vice - Portuguese tarts.

Mr Mawer married Elizabeth in 1939 and together they raised six children. Elizabeth died 11 years ago, aged 92.

"It was a long marriage to a lovely girl," Mr Mawer said.

© AAP 2022

Queen Elizabeth has been laid to rest alongside her beloved husband after Britain and the world paid a final farewell to the nation's longest-reigning monarch in a dazzling show of pomp and ceremony.

Amid formality and careful choreography, there were moments of raw emotion. Late on Monday, an ashen-faced King Charles held back tears, while grief was etched on the faces of several members of the royal family.

Huge crowds thronged the streets of London and at Windsor Castle to witness the moving, grand processions and ceremonies.

"Few leaders receive the outpouring of love that we have seen," Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury, told the congregation at the state funeral in the majestic Westminster Abbey, where monarchs have been married, buried and crowned over the past 1000 years.

Among the 2000 congregation were some 500 presidents, prime ministers, foreign royal family members and dignitaries, including Joe Biden of the United States.

Outside, hundreds of thousands had crammed into the capital to honour Elizabeth, whose death at the age of 96 has prompted an outpouring of gratitude for her 70 years on the throne.

Many more lined the route as the hearse took her coffin from London to Windsor, throwing flowers, cheering and clapping as it passed from the city to the English countryside that she loved so much.

At St George's Chapel in Windsor Castle, some 800 guests attended a more intimate committal service which concluded with the crown, orb and sceptre - symbols of the monarch's power and governance - being removed from the coffin and placed on the altar.

The Lord Chamberlain, the most senior official in the royal household, then broke his 'Wand of Office', signifying the end of his service to the sovereign, and placed it on the casket which then slowly descended into the royal vault.

As the congregation sang God Save the King, King Charles, who faces a huge challenge to maintain the appeal of the monarchy as economic hardship looms in Britain, appeared to be fighting back tears.

It was in the same vast building that the queen was photographed alone, mourning her husband of 73 years, Prince Philip, during the pandemic lockdown, reinforcing the sense of a monarch in sync with her people during testing times.

Later on Monday evening, in a private family service, the coffins of Elizabeth and Philip, who died last year aged 99, were moved from the vault to be buried together in the same chapel where her father, King George VI, mother, and sister, Princess Margaret, also rest.

At the state funeral, Welby told those present that the grief felt by so many across Britain and the wider world reflected the late monarch's "abundant life and loving service".

"Her late majesty famously declared on a 21st birthday broadcast that her whole life would be dedicated to serving the nation and Commonwealth. Rarely has such a promise been so well kept," Welby said.

Music that played at the queen's wedding in 1947 and her coronation six years later again rang out. The coffin entered to lines of scripture set to a score used at every state funeral since the early 18th century.

After the funeral, her flag-draped casket was pulled by sailors through London's streets on a gun carriage in one of the largest military processions seen in Britain, involving thousands of members of the armed forces dressed in ceremonial finery.

They walked in step to funeral music from marching bands, while in the background the city's famous Big Ben tolled each minute. Charles and other senior royals followed on foot.

The casket was taken from Westminster Abbey to Wellington Arch and transferred to a hearse to travel to Windsor, where more big crowds waited patiently.

Among those who came from around Britain and beyond, people climbed lampposts and stood on barriers and ladders to catch a glimpse of the royal procession.

Millions more watched on television at home on a public holiday declared for the occasion, the first time the funeral of a British monarch has been televised

Elizabeth died on September 8 at Balmoral Castle, her summer home in the Scottish highlands.

Her health had been in decline, and for months the monarch who had carried out hundreds of official engagements well into her 90s had withdrawn from public life.

However, in line with her sense of duty, she was photographed just two days before she died, looking frail but smiling and holding a walking stick as she appointed Liz Truss as her 15th and final prime minister.

Such was her longevity and her inextricable link with Britain that even her own family found her passing a shock.

"We all thought she was invincible," Prince William told well-wishers.

The 40th sovereign in a line that traces its lineage back to 1066, Elizabeth came to the throne in 1952 and became Britain's first post-imperial monarch.

She oversaw her nation trying to carve out a new place in the world, and she was instrumental in the emergence of the Commonwealth of Nations, now a grouping comprising 56 countries.

When she succeeded her father George VI, Winston Churchill was her first prime minister and Josef Stalin led the Soviet Union. She met major figures from politics, entertainment and sport including Nelson Mandela, Pope John Paul II, the Beatles, Marilyn Monroe, Pele and Roger Federer.

Despite being reputedly 1.6 metres tall, she dominated rooms with her presence and became a towering global figure, praised in death from Paris and Washington to Moscow and Beijing. National mourning was observed in Brazil, Jordan and Cuba, countries with which she had little direct link.

"People of loving service are rare in any walk of life," Welby said during the funeral. "Leaders of loving service are still rarer. But in all cases, those who serve will be loved and remembered when those who cling to power and privileges are long forgotten."

The tenor bell of the Abbey tolled 96 times. Among the hymns chosen for the service was The Lord's my Shepherd, sung at her wedding in the Abbey.

In the royal group following the casket into the Abbey was the queen's great-grandson and future king, Prince George, aged nine, and his younger sister Charlotte, seven.

Towards the end of the service, the church and much of the nation fell silent for two minutes. Trumpets rang out before the congregation sang God Save the King. Outside, crowds joined in and broke into applause when the anthem was over.

The queen's piper brought the service to an end with a lament called Sleep, Dearie, Sleep.

At Windsor there was a similar, poignant end to the ceremony with a lone piper walking away, leaving the chapel in silence.

"I've sang God Save the Queen all my life," said John Ellis, 56, an army veteran who had travelled to Windsor. "It's going to be quite hard to change now."

© RAW 2022