Investigation into Public Health Virology Laboratory
On 5 December 2024, Queensland Health commissioned an independent Health Service Investigation under Part 9 of the Hospital and Health Boards Act 2011 into historical record-keeping breaches at its Public Health Virology Lab.
On 3 September 2025, Queensland Health released the findings and recommendations of the investigation.
The investigation found the samples of Hendra virus, Lyssavirus and Hantavirus were unlikely to have been lost or stolen but were unaccounted for because of poor record-keeping.
It also found there was no risk or harm caused to staff or the broader community because of the breach.
Queensland Health accepted all recommendations across six categories to improve administration and governance processes in the lab:
- Codifying regulatory obligations
- Implementing robust electronic inventory systems
- Strengthening onboarding and workforce training
- Updating business continuity planning for PC4 environments
- Instigating structured internal audits
- Clarifying role responsibilities and succession risk
This is in addition to measures already taken to improve processes in the lab, including retraining staff to ensure ongoing compliance with required regulations and an audit of all relevant permits to ensure accountability and correct storage of materials.
The investigation was led by the Hon Martin Daubney AM KC, a retired Supreme Court judge with extensive experience in mediation, arbitration and governance advisory work.
Dr Julian Druce was a co-investigator. Dr Druce is a Senior Medical Scientist with over 20 years of experience as a high containment laboratory and biosecurity expert.
- Read the report (PDF 6688 kB) *
- Read Queensland Health’s response to the report (PDF 249 kB)
- Read the terms of reference (PDF 227 kB).
* Please note minor clerical errors in the Executive Summary as follows:
- 3e should reference Section 8 instead of Section 9;
- 3f should reference Section 9 instead of Section 10.
No sections of the report have been removed and the above errors are administrative only.