Major international forensic science conference to reward Australian and New Zealand cutting-edge research

We are regularly reminded worldwide of the need to identify and then address knowledge gaps to strengthen forensic science. In this context, it is always pleasing to see that the cutting-edge nature of the research undertaken in Australia and New Zealand becomes increasingly visible. In her recent editorial in The Forensic Exhibit (the Newsletter of ANZPAA NIFS), Kaye Ballantyne highlighted the excellence, connectedness and impact of the research undertaken in our part of the world¹. She quoted the recent UK House of Lords enquiry into the state of forensic science in England and Wales² and a recent US National Institute of Standards and Technology conference as supporting evidence³. Recent assessments of the Australian Research Council, in particular, the Engagement and Impact assessments corroborated this statement⁴.

This issue of the Australian Journal of Forensic Sciences presents additional evidence of the strength of our research with the collation of plenary papers presented at the 24th Symposium of the Australian & New Zealand Forensic Science Society (ANZFSS) in Perth last year. We hope the reader will find this work thought provoking and useful in their forensic science practice and for future research.

The publication of these papers is another demonstration that the ANZFSS Symposium is the hallmark of the Society and has indeed become a leading ‘continental’ meeting along with its peers in Europe and in North America with the European Academy of Forensic Science and the American Academy of Forensic Sciences meetings, respectively. The international profile of the ANZFSS symposium grows and grows – in partnership with the International Association of Forensic Sciences, it will increase even further.

The massive 22^nd Triennial Meeting of the International Association of Forensic Science (IAFS 2020), in conjunction with the 25^th Symposium of the Australian & New Zealand Forensic Science Society (ANZFSS), will welcome leading experts and colleagues from around the globe to discuss best practices, present research and share experiences. Importantly, as part of the theme ‘Forensic Science 2020 – Where to from here?’, the meeting also aims to improve operational contributions and effectiveness in the light of current and future challenges. The Organizing and Advisory Committees have been working with enthusiasm with the whole forensic science community to stage the world’s most memorable meeting of its kind.

For example, we are proud to announce two exciting partnerships:

• DFRWS (Digital Forensic Research Workshops) to integrate the rapidly evolving field of digital forensic science and deliver the first DFRW APAC as part of the meeting. In other words, for the first time, traditional and digital forensic science and medicine will meet and integrate in a tangible way to meet some of the most critical challenges in our field; and

• ICRC (International Committee of the Red Cross) who is already actively working with the Scientific Committee to profile and shape the Humanitarian Forensic Science programme, another emerging theme of forensic science and medicine.

An exciting plenary programme will bring together speakers from across four continents and hold, for the first time, a topical panel discussion comprising traditional and modern perspectives as part of the ‘Where to from here?’ debate, which promises to be one of the Meeting highlights.

Keynotes, regular oral presentations and electronic posters will further enhance the education element across twenty-two disciplines, in a programme that is being shaped by no less than 85 convenors from around the world. These subject-matter experts are essential to ensure the scientific excellence of our programme and must be gratefully acknowledged. The call for abstracts will open on Monday 23 September 2019.

A joint meeting of this magnitude must, and will, leave a lasting legacy, not just for those that attend but for the entire forensic community in this part of the world. Here we don’t just want the impacts of IAFS 2020 to stay within the walls of the brand-new International Convention Centre in Sydney (ICC); the Organizing Committee is putting in place a number of initiatives including mini-summits in order to produce a strategic legacy after the conference. Workshops, network opportunities and (of course) an entertaining social programme will complement the conference while many other activities and partnerships are being discussed. We can guarantee that delegates and participating organizations will have a unique experience.

IAFS comes to our shores only once in a working-life, join us and be part of history in the making!