Senior Technician Toxicologist Sima Mala is proud that her work makes at impact on Queenslanders and their lives.
Working behind the scenes in Queensland’s highly specialised toxicology lab, Sima Mala has spent almost two decades helping solve crimes and providing answers to families and law enforcement.
From testing roadside drug and alcohol samples to analysing samples for homicide cases, this senior technician of forensic toxicology has done it all.
“It’s very niche so you wouldn’t find any other job like this anywhere else because this toxicology lab does analysis for all police and coronial samples for the state,” she says.
“I love my job and this is why I’ve been here for 19 years.”
With the widest smile, she says: “I know I will retire here”.
After completing a National Diploma of Applied Science and working in forensic toxicology in New Zealand, Sima moved to Australia in 2007 to continue her career in a field she is deeply passionate about.
“Every day is different, and I am constantly learning from the variety of work we do,” she says with enthusiasm.
“I am proud that my work makes an impact for Queenslanders, whether it’s giving families closure by providing answers or making roads safer through providing lab results.
“I’m very patriotic towards our state, having worked so long for the government but I am also heavily involved in charity work. Community is very important to me.”
Sima says the positive workplace was also what kept employees like her at Forensic Pathology and Coronial Services for almost two decades.
More than 12,000 saliva samples, around 3,000 drug and alcohol tests and 400 other samples are completed every year.
More than 2,000 samples from the mortuary are processed annually at the request of the coroner, some of which are suspicious cases.
“You have to be on top of your game to find out what the story says and what you’re finding in your screening process,” she says.
“Synthetic drugs are emerging all the time, which makes it challenging to identify every substance we analyse.”
Sima and the team are always looking for new ways of validating methods, quality control regulations, and ways to improve the system.
Starting at 6am, Sima’s workdays vary, from extracting and analysing samples to completing peer review reports and administration.
“We aim to undertake rapid analysis of samples for drugs, poisons and alcohol within 24 hours. We also analyse for carbon-monoxide toxicity in fire cases, which are very special requests ordered by the Queensland coroner,” she says.
“When one samples comes in, there are several people involved to undertake multiple extractions, so communication and time management are key to our workflow.”
Beyond her regular workload, Sima takes on the challenge of conducting experiments to identify mystery samples.
It’s thrilling for her.
“There was a compound that everyone had been struggling to extract and analyse,” she says.
“Through a lot of research and trying out different experiments, I was able to find ways of determining what it was.
“We had a few suspected cases for magic mushrooms over the years but due to its instability in blood it was difficult to detect.
“Since I was able to find another way of extracting it from urine and vitreous humour (fluids found in eyes), we have been able to extract and report it.
“I was very proud of that because it took months of hard work to figure out.
“Toxicology analysis provides information to the Queensland coroner to support their decision-making, and in some cases can mean that decedents can be released to their family members sooner and without autopsies.
“Some families have reservations about their loved ones undergoing an autopsy, so we are happy to provide information to the coroner to support their decision-making regarding the least invasive approach.”
When asked whether she would encourage others to choose toxicology as a career, Sim’s eyes grow wide with passion.
“It will be one of the best decisions you’ll ever make,” she says.
“Every sample has to be given the same amount of respect and effort to produce a result. Ultimately, we do our job to help give people answers.
“You have to be open-minded, ready for challenges and be a team player, but you will always be learning.
“I wouldn’t trade this job for any other in the world.”
The search is now on for amazing Queenslanders – those selfless community volunteers, local legends, young achievers, organisation and most importantly, our health heroes. Nominations for Qld Day are open online until 18 May 2026.