167. Hon Alison Xamon to the minister representing the Minister for Police:
I refer to the analysis of suspected illicit drugs which is undertaken for Western Australia Police by ChemCentre, and ask:
(a) how many samples were analysed by ChemCentre for Western Australia Police in the last 12 months;
(b) what is the current average time it takes to receive the Certificate of Approved Analyst;
(c) over the last 24 months, what is the longest time taken to receive the Certificate of Approved Analyst; and
(d) in cases where receipt of the Certificate of Approved Analyst has been delayed for longer than four months, would the Minister please advise the reasons for the delay?
Hon Stephen Dawson replied:
(a) In the 2016/2017 financial year, 11,278 illicit drug samples (exhibits).
(b) Illicit drug cases are triaged and prioritised by the WA Police Force, routine work is either sent through as Priority 3, 4 or 5. For operationally urgent case files and preliminary results work is sent through as Priority 6 or 7.
Results are provided within an agreed timeframe.
Priority 7 – Continue forensic analysis until results obtained.
Priority 6 – 24 hour (Walkthrough).
Priority 5 – 1 Week (Fast Track).
Priority 4 – 2 Weeks.
Priority 3 – 4 Weeks (Routine).
Priority 2 – Not in use.
(a) Priority 1 – Hold as agreed.
(b) Priority 4, 5 and 6 Certificate of Approved Analyst remain within the agreed timeframes.
Over the past 24 months, the average time for a priority 3 was 19 weeks. Since July 2017, the average time decreasing to 12 weeks.
(c) The longest time taken to receive a Certificate of Approved Analyst was a routine matter, priority 3, being 22 weeks.
(d) There are a raft of reasons accompanying the delay in receipt of Certificates of Approved Analyst. The most pertinent include:
complexity of case;
seizure size;
identification of new psychoactive substances; and
novel synthetic cannabinoids.
In addition, the identification of synthetic cannabinoids requires sourcing reference material that are not readily available in Australia, but are required to meet the stringent requirement of the Judiciary, National Association of Testing Authorities accreditation and international standards, as well as those specified by various scientific working groups for the analysis of illicit drugs.