Workshops

This five-day pre-IAFS conference workshop will be held at The Australian Facility of Taphonomic Research (AFTER) located in Western Sydney, New South Wales. AFTER is currently the only body donation facility dedicated to the study of forensic taphonomy in Australia and supports a number of projects involving buried remains. The workshop will provide participants with practical experience in the excavation, recovery, documentation, and post-recovery management of human remains and associated evidence buried within a series of single and mass graves. Participants will be provided with a broad overview of different techniques used to search and locate clandestine graves and will then work in rotating groups to undertake excavation and recovery. The deceased have been buried for varying times (between 4 and 7 years) and at different depths, in hand and machine-dug graves. Therefore, it is anticipated that participants will gain experience working with human remains in different states of preservation.

Upon completing this workshop participants will:

1. Gain an appreciation of the logistics involved in recovering human remains.
2. Gain practical experience recovering differentially preserved human remains and associated evidence.
3. Gain an understanding of the different excavation and documentation techniques adapted to single and multiple graves.
4. Gain an understanding of taphonomic challenges, site formation processes, and differential preservation
5. Gain an understanding of basic problem-solving when access to complete resources required for recovery is limited.
6. Gain knowledge of a temporary mortuary including the need for sampling as part of the identification process.

This workshop will be of interest to police, forensic experts, and post-graduate students with relevant background.

Please note this workshop is not available to undergraduate students.

Accreditation in forensic sciences is a key step in ensuring that forensic services perform not only in accordance with scientific methodological standards but also follow the requirements involving personnel and adherence to best practice. The process of acquiring and maintaining accreditation may be daunting, however the establishment of sound quality management strategies, such as standard operating procedures and validation, not only supports the path towards accreditation but also increases trust and perceived competency among clients and collaborators alike.  

This workshop will focus on current and future trends in the accreditation process in examiner-driven forensic areas, mainly using examples from forensic facial image comparison (FIC). The participants will gain insight into established, alternative and emerging accreditation pathways in examiner-driven forensic disciplines from the perspective of accreditation bodies, FIC and quality management practitioners from various governmental organizations in Australia and Europe. The aims include identifying potential barriers in the accreditation process and providing recommendations on the practical steps necessary to work towards and achieve a successful accreditation. The workshop is suitable for forensic practitioners, managers, and other forensic stakeholders from examiner-driven forensic fields. The number of attendees will be limited to allow participants to actively engage in and inform the workshop outcomes

This two day workshop will focus on advanced court skills, specifically voice and vocal skills, practical presenting, cross examination techniques, presenting evidence via video-link and presenting concurrent evidence (hot-tubbing)

Whilst many practitioners have participated in some introductory training, this workshop is designed for forensic practitioners with some (or a lot) of experience giving evidence in various courts of law and aims to build on that experience.

The workshop will comprise four half day sessions each focusing on a specific topic and associated practical exercises.

Session A: voice and vocal skills / practical presented skills. Dr Kate Cashman

‘Glossophobia’, or the fear of public speaking, is remarkably common. In fact, some experts estimate that as much as 77% of the population has some level of anxiety regarding public speaking and this exacerbated in the adversarial court system.

Session B: Cross examination techniques Mr Mahmud Hawila

Barristers learn and practice a range of examination and cross examination techniques. This session will demonstrate how these techniques work.

Session C: Presenting evidence via video -link. A/Professor Anne Wallace

The use of video link for the presentation of evidence has dramatically increased over the last two years. However, the remote presentation of evidence requires a different skill set to those utilised face-to-face and their environmental factors to consider.

Session D: Presenting concurrent evidence (hot tubbing). 

Australian courts and agencies have been acknowledged as having the most experience with the “hot tub” method in which experts give their evidence concurrently (Rares J, 2013). Whilst concurrent evidence has been primarily used in Civil matters, it has been used in a number of Australian Criminal Courts.

This workshop will be conducted in classrooms and ‘real’ courtrooms at UTS (2 x classrooms + 2 courtrooms).

Pre-workshop preparation required by participants:

Submission of a court report / statement or similar for use during the workshop

As the need for rapid, accurate presumptive screening of chemical evidence in forensic analyses continues to grow, many laboratories are embracing ambient ionization mass spectrometry (AI-MS). AI-MS instruments are appealing because they can offer a near-complete chemical profile of a sample in a matter of seconds, with little to no sample preparation. However, as with any new technology, adoption and implementation of these instruments can be challenging.

Overcoming challenges surrounding implementation of these new techniques requires an understanding of the science that underlies the techniques, knowing how to implement the techniques into casework, appreciating the limitations of the techniques, and having confidence in handling and interpretating the data that is generated from the techniques. This workshop will explore each of these four points, providing participants with the information necessary to determine if and how these approaches could benefit their workflows. This workshop will be most beneficial to those new to AI-MS or those who are considering implementing AI-MS in their laboratories. While the primary focus of the workshop will be on direct analysis in real time (DART) applications for seized drug analysis, other ambient ionization sources and forensic chemistry disciplines will be highlighted.

The goal of this workshop is to highlight the role of forensic science in meeting larger international development goals. In line with the National Academy of Science’s recommendation, an overarching goal of ICITAP forensic assistance programs is international accreditation and adoption of recognized best practices. Achieving international accreditation is a long process that requires solid management skills such as strategic planning, budgeting, and administration of a rigorous quality assurance program. This workshop will review ICITAP’s experience in partnering with the Costa Rica DFS and other organizations and discuss the challenges faced by most laboratories in providing effective laboratory leadership.

The workshop will present Costa Rica DFS’ approach to forensic management. To highlight the aspects of why their approach is successful, the workshop will feature a review of DFS’ achievement of accreditation, Lean Six Sigma process improvement project, establishment of the Project Management Office, and the development of a change management-oriented culture. It will also address ways they expand the reach of their impact by participation in regional and international efforts such as the ICITAP Forensic Leadership Academy and Iberoamerican Academy of Criminalistics and Forensic Studies (AICEF).

Participants will be introduced to how one can assess forensic results given activity level propositions. That will allow them to take into consideration aspects such as transfer, persistence, recovery and background. Based on real cases, participants will assign the value of the results and will be introduced to the use of Bayesian networks. Working across disciplines will allow them to understand that all types of trace evidence obey to the same interpretation principles and that the difference lies in the data used to inform our conclusions. One will also explore how to manage cases when experimental data are limited.

At the end of this workshop, participants will be able to:

• Recognize the factors (i.e., transfer, persistence, recovery, background) that one needs to account for when assessing transfer evidence.
• Identify the essential features that an interpretation framework should offer to account for these factors.
• Implement this framework in different forensic evidence types (GSR, glass, fibres, DNA, drugs on money, etc.)
• Evaluate case results using formal expressions of evidential value (i.e., likelihood ratio formulae)
• Demonstrate how Bayesian networks can replicate value of evidence formulae and help manage more complex cases.
• Be able to justify reported conclusions.

Motivation
Forensic Science has seen an increasing use of the logical approach (or likelihood ratio approach) to the interpretation of forensic findings, and it is no different in the field of Forensic Handwriting Examination (FHE). The logical approach is especially relevant when interpreting findings of comparative examinations, when the issue at hand is the source of a trace. Under this paradigm, the role of the forensic scientist is to evaluate the strength of the scientific evidence in support for a given proposition against the alternative proposition. ENFSI and ANZPAA/NIFS have already published guidelines on evaluative reporting, and the third version of the Modular Forensic Handwriting Method, due to be published this year, has embraced the logical approach. Thus, forensic handwriting examiners need, at a minimum, be aware of the theory behind the logical approach, its application to handwriting examination, and the tools available to deal with the uncertainties involved in this kind of examination.

Objective
The objective of this course is to introduce students to Bayesian networks, and to provide a hands-on training on the application of this tool in forensic handwriting examination.

Contents
The course will be based on the relevant literature and will stimulate the students to reflect and discuss the reasoning involved in the interpretation of forensic findings in different handwriting examination scenarios.
The in-person training will last two full days (total of 16 hours), and will be divided in four sessions: (1) Bayesian networks theory, (2) introduction and exercises with the software Hugin Lite demo, (3) and (4) applications to FHE.
For those students unfamiliar with the logical approach, online training will be provided in the months prior to the event, with no additional cost. The online, preparatory training will cover the pre-requisites for the in-person training: introduction to probability theory and its applications to evidence evaluation, the three principles of evidence interpretation, evaluative reporting.

Benefits
The successful students of this course will be able to:
– use Bayesian networks to model inferential problems encountered in FHE casework;
– develop insights regarding lacking information or data when (pre-)assessing  a case;
– evaluate examination findings in a transparent and coherent manner;
– present, discuss, and review their reasoning more clearly.

Communicating forensic science and statistical weight is an essential aspect of the criminal justice process for any case involving forensic evidence. There are substantial challenges for scientists within the courtroom environment, including the interrogative structure of testimony, as well as the varied audiences, specialized language and adversarial narratives.

This workshop will address those challenges using research-driven communication principles to help scientists convey nuanced data interpretation. The Alda Method is a unique communication training technique that blends improvisational theater exercises with audience-focused message-design strategies. Driven by the adaptability and active listening at the core of improvisation and the empathy and connection prescribed by social science research, the Alda Method provides strategic approaches for communicating science to non-expert audiences by prioritizing their engagement and comprehension experience.

Principles of centering your audience and being empathic and flexible as a forensic science communicator are fundamental as participants learn specific skills like analogy building, active listening, language adjustment, and engaging with challenging questions. Participants will be actively involved in the exercises, including peer feedback, iterative mock testimony and group skill development.

This workshop has been developed as a collaboration between the Leverhulme Research Center for Forensic Science and the Alan Alda Center for Communicating Science.

This workshop delves into the employment of Virtual Reality (VR) for examining crime scenes documented with standard and specialised equipment. A core aspect is the comprehension of measurement uncertainties that occur during the capture, data processing and utilisation. We present the development of a virtual training village as a use case to simulate complex crime scene scenarios.

Participants will gain a comprehensive understanding of the necessary elements for producing accurate and reproducible VR training products and hands-on experience in the planning and delivery of virtual crime scenes.

The workshop will also explore the technical details of crime scene digitalisation, covering topics such as photographic recording, photogrammetry techniques, and user experience optimisation.

Forensic DNA experts are increasingly requested to comment on the activity by which biological traces were left. This requires specialized expert knowledge about relevant factors such as transfer, persistence, prevalence and recovery of DNA (DNA-TPPR). To provide answers a forensic DNA expert needs to apply this knowledge to the case circumstances using a logical framework. This 1.5-day workshop covers necessary steps to evaluate forensic biological findings given activity level propositions.

Topics include the theoretical framework for evidence interpretation, formulating activity level propositions, the use of contextual information, the current state of knowledge on DNA-TPPR, statistical models (including Bayesian networks), assigning probabilities using different sources of information and perceived obstacles and limitations. Attendees will gain knowledge and have an opportunity to apply this knowledge using practical exercises. During the workshop there is ample time for discussion and questions.

Presenters have relevant casework and research experience. The number of participants will be limited to ensure an interactive learning environment. A separate half day workshop hosted by the The Netherlands Register of Court Experts (NRGD) will address reporting and testimony on the issues covered in this workshop in greater detail and will follow this workshop in the afternoon of the second day.

This 1-day workshop is an evidence-based training course for facial image comparison. It is developed and delivered by leading researchers, and is designed to improve facial image comparison accuracy. The course draws on cognitive science and neuroscience to deliver specially designed practical exercises that have been empirically shown to boost ability. This training is most suitable for practitioners at the reviewer level looking to improve their skills matching relatively high-quality imagery, e.g. from social media, custody photos, passports, driver’s licenses, and FR database searches. It is less suitable for examiners and those looking to improve their matching skills for imagery where feature detail is less visible, e.g. CCTV footage. Attendees will be asked to complete an online 1:1 facial image comparison task prior to the workshop (30-60mins), and bring a laptop. After the workshop, attendees will receive a personalised report of their performance before and after training. The training is part of an ongoing research program. The data collected will be anonymised and used for research purposes.

Forensic anthropology is a rapidly developing field with forensic anthropologists being increasingly involved in different types of forensic casework. While traditional anthropological casework included the analysis of physical human remains, the current trend shows an expansion of the knowledge and skills of forensic anthropologists into a broader range of forensic investigations. Further, forensic anthropologists are increasingly involved in different types of forensic casework including those undertaken in domestic medico-legal, disaster victim identification, and humanitarian contexts. Consequently, forensic anthropologists may be required to engage and work with various stakeholders including law enforcement officers, forensic medical and scientific experts, members of the legal profession, and the broader community (families). Effective communication and understanding of the skill set and possible contributions of forensic anthropology to an investigation are key for a timely and successful collaboration in forensic investigations.

This workshop will cover the ‘five Ws’ of the involvement of forensic anthropologists; namely who forensic anthropologists are, what skill sets they have, when and where they can be of assistance, and why their expertise can be valuable for forensic investigations. Consequently, participants will gain insight into the range of contributions forensic anthropology can offer to forensic investigations. Ways to facilitate effective communication across different fields of expertise will be discussed, and networking will be encouraged.

The workshop is suitable for a broad range of forensic stakeholders, including police officers, crime scene investigators, lawyers, judiciary, forensic pathologists, and other forensic scientists.

Mass shooting and other types of mass fatality incidents are becoming more prevalent across the world and the need for communities to prepare for these incidents is extremely important. Mass fatality planning is critical for all aspects of the community and specifically police, emergency manager and the medicolegal authority.

On 1 October 2017, a gunman opened fired into a crowd of people attending a country music festival on the Las Vegas Strip. The gunman fired over 1000 rounds leaving 58 people dead and over 500 injured.

Emergency responders were immediately overwhelmed. Their planning, training, and exercising assisted them in managing the next several months.

Persons attending this workshop will learn about how to prepare your community for an incident involving multiple fatalities. The workshop will assist in learning details about the following areas of deployment following an incident.

• Overview of Las Vegas incident
• Scene Response
• Deployment of a call center
• Missing persons reporting
• Family Assistance Centers
• Long term resiliency
• Employee Mental health and wellness efforts

Potentially violent individuals and/or groups of individuals may require control and/or restraint.  Such techniques may be applied to adults and children, whether as acutely behaviourally disturbed individuals or groups using violence or physical force.  Different jurisdictions use different forms of restraint and control. The application of such techniques must be done lawfully, and all may have some form of associated morbidity and mortality.

This workshop will explore some of the medical and scientific aspects of these techniques which may be used in custodial settings (including police, prison, immigration return), and medical or social settings such as mental health facilities, and care homes (for both older people and children).

The implications of such techniques can be far-reaching with legal and medical implications for the person using the techniques and the individual on whom they are used.

The workshop will provide an update on this very relevant topic and be of relevance to scientists, lawyers, physicians (ED, forensic, prison, immigration detention) and forensic pathologists

In recent years, the accuracy of forensic sciences has been the subject of increased study, scrutiny, and commentary within the legal system and forensic science literature. Human factors analysis can be used to advance our understanding of the true nature of errors in complex work settings. Research in this area has identified factors that contribute to inefficiencies and quantified the effects of human and organizational factors on performance of critical tasks. The forensic science community can benefit from the application of the substantial body of human factors research to reduce the likelihood and consequences of human error in the scientific interpretation of evidence.

To assist the forensic community in this effort, the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) and the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s (NIST’s) Special Programs Office partnered to assemble a series of Expert Working Groups (EWGs) to examine human factors in forensic analyses and propose strategies to reduce the likelihood of error in forensic practice. To date, these EWGs have contributed human factors knowledge to three forensic disciplines including latent print comparison, forensic handwriting examination, and forensic DNA interpretation.

In this workshop, we will discuss and compare recommendations from these three significant reports.

Steganography is the art and science of hidden communication, allowing to send sensitive or illegal data in such a way that only the intended recipient knows about the existence of the secret data and therefore is able to extract and utilize it. The general concept of steganography is based on embedding the “secret” (or illegal) data within non-suspicious looking “cover” data and thus creating a so-called “stego file”. This is done in such a way that it is not possible to easily “see” whether or not embedded secret data is present.

Although steganography has already been used in the ancient Roman and Greek empire, its full power has only been unleashed by utilizing digital technology.For example, you can easily hide image files illustrating sensitive or illegal content (e.g. military strategic information or child sexual abuse material) in a larger image, video or audio file. There are numerous cases proving that steganography has been used in the “real digital world” for espionage as well as for criminal purposes: Al-Qaeda used steganographic techniques during the planning phase of the 9/11 attacks, which killed about 3000 people in 2001.

In 2002, “Shadowz Brotherhood”, an internet ring for sharing child pornography images and videos, has been identified to utilize steganography to hide images of child abuse within innocent cover files. The US Department of Justice revealed in 2010, that a group of Russian spies in the USA was using steganography to send secret information embedded in cover files via the internet. Depending on the steganography tool used, no or only very little digital traces or hints can be identified in the resulting stego file, which might indicate the existence of embedded additional data. To further support the quality of the embedding, steganography is usually combined with encryption techniques to improve the statistics of the payload and therefore the inconspicuousness of the embedding.

In the first part of the workshop a general introduction will be given, explaining how steganography and the detection of hidden content works. The second part is based on working with real stego files: how can they be produced and how hard it may be to detect them. We will be working hands-on with sample stego files to show what real stego data looks like and how hard it may get to identify and extract the embedded payload.

Depending on our progress there might even be a small “capture-the-flag” challenge, where participants can try to use their new skills to identify some more stego files and extract the embedded payload. Although you will be able to follow most of the workshop without a computer, we encourage you to bring a laptop with an installed docker platform to get the maximum benefit from the practical part of the workshop.

Please note, that the surplus of the workshop fees will be donated to a charity organization, which provides humanitarian support for children and their families in Ukraine.

The popularity of recreational diving using SCUBA (Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus) has increased dramatically over the past several decades. Estimates place the number of active recreational divers in the world at between 6 and 9 million. Popular dive sites are located in the Mediterranean, Red Sea, Caribbean, South Pacific, Australia, Southeast Asia, and other locations worldwide. Diving-related fatalities, while fortunately uncommon, are not rare events (average of 20/year in Australia and 70 to 80/year in North America). These fatalities challenge the investigators and pathologists who must investigate and certify these deaths. Recreational diving fatalities are often litigated in civil court. This workshop is designed for pathologists, death investigators, attorneys, and law enforcement personnel who may be tasked with investigating a SCUBA diving accident or fatality.

The workshop will include presentations on diving physiology, the pathophysiology of diving accidents, including the pathophysiology of drowning, epidemiology, investigative guidelines and procedures, autopsy protocol recommendations for diving deaths, and hazardous marine life. Numerous cases will be presented and there will be a hands-on portion where participants can become familiar with the equipment used by recreational divers, along with recommendations on having the equipment evaluated. Participants will gain competence and confidence in investigating diving deaths.

This full day (8 hour) workshop focuses on using the likelihood ratio (LR) in fingerprint casework.  We will explore different methods for generating LRs, including both verbal LRs and quantitative LRs from a statistical model.  We will see how these apply to various types of fingerprint comparisons.  We have practical exercises that include examples of identification, inconclusive, and cases where there is correspondence, but insufficient for the expert to conclude an identification or an exclusion.  Participants will review different methods of reporting using expanded verbal conclusion scales.  Lastly, we will explore some mock testimony scenarios based on the examples discussed throughout the workshop.

The course is aimed at practitioner fingerprint experts or supervisors/quality managers of fingerprint units.  Other pattern specialists, such as footwear, firearms, handwriting experts are welcome, but the exercises are specific examples for fingerprint experts, but the concepts, reporting, and testimony are universally applicable across forensic disciplines.

The Workshop, Linguistics as a Forensic Science provides a full day of training. The training includes lecture, discussion and hands-on work with computer software for linguistic analysis.

The software, ALIAS: Automated Linguistic Identification & Assessment System, is accessed through the web. ALIAS contains five modules. ALIAS TATTLER enables the user to perform

• data input (including long and short documents, txts, tweets, audio, handwriting, text images) and fundamental text analysis including
• lexical analysis (tokenizing, lemmatizing,  frequency, class distinctions),
• syntactic analysis (sentence splitting, part-of-speech tagging, syntactic chunking),
• semantic analysis (themes, topic discovery, sentiment analysis, entity recognition, embeddings), discourse (rhetorical strategies, argumentation types),
• phonology (sound classes) and
• orthography (Roman, Cyrillic and Arabic scripts and punctuation).

With ALIAS ALI, ALEX and ALISTAR the user performs forensic linguistic analysis in validated algorithms for  the four main issues of language as evidence:

• authorship identification and language identification,
• text similarity and relatedness measurements,
• text classification and
• linguistic profiling.

ALIAS ATLAS module enables the user to

• manage client information,
• manage case informatio0,
• track hours for administration and management of teams, and
• invoice billing.

 Attendees will learn how to run a document though a complete case analysis from data entry to linguistic and statistical analysis. Each attendee is expected to bring his own laptop to the class so that he can perform hands-on work with ALIAS.

 Each attendee will also be provided an additional three weeks of access to ALIAS after the workshop, as well as one hour of technical support during those three weeks. Each attendee will be provided with four textbooks on Linguistics as a Forensic Science, including Paradigms, Methods, Tools and Ethics, as well as the ALIAS User Manual.

Attendees are encouraged to bring their own data, but for learning purposes data will be provided. Attendees are not expected to know linguistics, but they should have strong backgrounds in questioned document examination, digital forensic evidence, or law, and should be familiar with using computer software for forensic purposes (such as Microsoft Office, Photoshop, Cellebrite, etc).  Attendees are not expected to be statisticians, but they should be familiar with basic statistical concepts and experimental testing.

Workshop Presenter: Mrs Nikki Keighran Workshop Date: Monday 20 September 2020 Workshop Time: 09:00 – 17:00 hours Venue: University of Technology Sydney Fee: Half Day A$60.00 or Full Day A$150.00 Capacity: 24 delegates (both half and full days)

Whilst small, the risk of encountering radioactive material during criminal investigations exists; several instances have been reported in Australia.  However, most forensic scientists and first responders will have had limited exposure to practical and radiation safety considerations when attending a radiological crime scene or examining evidence items containing radioactive material.  This workshop will provide participants with key information to empower them to respond to this hazard.

The half-day workshop will cover general radiation principles, radiological crime scene management and risk assessment. It will include a practical session offering hands-on experience using radiation detectors.

The full-day workshop also includes a tabletop scenario exploring the examination of radioactive material or evidence contaminated with radioactive material collected at a crime scene.

In today’s interconnected world, crime has become more digitized and globalized, blending physical and digital realms. Criminals and terrorists now have easier access to potential targets and funding. To combat this, there is a greater focus on prevention and disruption, which has led to changes in offense categories, police powers, and the prevalence of multi-agency partnerships.

However, traditional forensic science models are outdated and ill-suited to this evolving landscape, risking irrelevancy. Forensics should not only be viewed as linear, segregated, and discipline-specific but should also contribute to prevention and disruption outcomes. The Australian Federal Police (AFP) Forensics has transformed its operating model to address these challenges, increasing its impact and value proposition.

This workshop will explore how AFP Forensics developed and implemented its transdisciplinary forensic operating model. It will address the importance of understanding the broader strategic and operational environment in order to design a model to maximise relevance, impact and trust. It will analyse the impact on daily operations and assess future opportunities.

Participants will be provided with an opportunity learn from the AFP Forensics experience and explore how this model could be applied to their organizations.

Growing application of biogeographical ancestry (BGA) analysis in forensic casework has highlighted the impact of BGA as an investigative tool to assist identification of unknown DNA donors. With this there is need for education on classifier limitations and common misconceptions about true reference populations. Workshop participants will see first-hand the weaknesses and strengths of various BGA analysis methods through worked examples using published population data and ancestry-informative SNP panels.

A hands-on component is included where participants will get the opportunity to prepare and analyse mock data by selecting appropriate reference populations, marker panels, and classifier to run using the Structure Software, Snipper webtool, and the Forensic Resource/Reference On Genetics – knowledge base (FROG-kb). A discussion on the prediction outcome and interpretation will then follow.

This workshop is ideal for anyone with a general understanding of basic biological concepts and an interest in determining biogeographic and/or phenotypic information from genotype data using publicly available resources. Participants will need to bring a laptop for the hands-on component (ideally one with administrator rights for software installation).

Human taphonomic facilities (HTFs) have been established worldwide to conduct multidisciplinary human decomposition research in relevant contexts to aid death investigations. In addition to experimental research, HTFs provide the unique infrastructure, resources and governance required to host simulated disaster scenarios using human cadavers.

The University of Technology Sydney (UTS)-led Australian Facility for Taphonomic Experimental Research (AFTER) is the only HTF in Australia. AFTER opened in 2016 and has received over 100 body donations for research and training purposes to date. The objective of this workshop is to provide forensic practitioners and researchers with an overview of AFTER’s amenities and activities. During the workshop the participants will observe and learn about current research and training activities, and their educational and operational outcomes. Future plans for site and activity expansion will also be discussed.

The one day workshop will involve a half-day educational visit to the AFTER site led by the AFTER management team, followed by a half-day research forum at the UTS. Presentations will be given by current AFTER users and interactive discussions will be facilitated with participants to identify opportunities for multijurisdictional, multiagency and multidisciplinary research collaborations and capability/capacity building training at a national and international level.

Forensic anthropology is a rapidly developing field with practitioners increasingly involved in different types of forensic casework. While traditional anthropological casework has included the analysis of physical human remains to address questions relating to species (human vs non-human) and biological profile (estimations of age, sex, ancestry, and stature), the current trend shows forensic anthropologists applying their knowledge and skills to a broader range of forensic investigations including human identification, the analysis and interpretation of skeletal trauma, and the identification of living persons. This workshop will consist of lectures and practical sessions which together will provide an overview of recent theoretical and practical developments in forensic anthropology. The topics include:

– Facial image comparison.
– Considerations around destructive sampling
– The importance of visualization using scanning and 3D printing technologies for documentation, presentation, and teaching in forensic anthropology.
– The application of Bayesian theory in providing a forensic anthropology opinion as probabilities summarizing individual findings on a case-by-case basis.
– The application of medical/post-mortem imaging in forensic anthropology casework.
– The analysis and interpretation of skeletal trauma: Participants will be presented with cases of skeletal defects covering different mechanisms of trauma (i.e., blunt force, sharp force, gunshot, and blast), taphonomic alterations (e.g., weathering, scavenging, burning) and congenital abnormalities/human variation.

This workshop will introduce a web-based training platform that was developed for fibre and hair experts within the European Network of Forensic Science Institutes (ENFSI) to supplement the member laboratories’ internal training schemes with a cost-effective, unified training concept.

The scope of this expandable virtual training environment currently covers the key processes for recovery, handling, examination as well as interpretation and reporting of textile and hair evidence.

To begin the workshop, we will give an overview of how the project was initially conceived, and outline the training challenges that the project sought to address. We will then discuss how the concept was planned and delivered over a three-year pan-European collaboration.

In a hands-on session, the participants will actively experience this e-learning environment with the guidance of the organizers by exploring on-line courses and other training tools and activities.

Finally, we will interactively discuss plans for the future of this e-learning, share learning points and propose how this model could be implemented in other forensic disciplines.

Target audience:

– forensic scientists and members of academia considering to develop an e-learning concept
– microtraces, fibre and hair practitioners aiming to refresh or complete their knowledge in specific areas of fibre/hair analysis

This workshop targets forensic feature-comparison examiners seeking to explore ways to enhance the reliability of their observations through computer-assisted consensus approaches. The workshop comprises theoretical and practical components. The theoretical component will cover an overview of automated methods for source level inference, the art of scientific communication, and developing the narrative for expert witness testimony.

We will discuss forensic judgments during the application of the Analysis-Comparison-Evaluation (ACE) process and explore strategies to strengthen the reliability of forensic examiner opinions. The practical segment involves using an online tool called Picture Annotation System (PiAnoS) designed to examine friction ridge impressions (fingerprints).

Prior to the workshop participants will view training videos on how to use the software and individually complete 4 ACE exercises. During the workshop, participants will work in groups of three to reach consensus on the same exercises using the most reliable features from their individual analysis.

This workshop is ideal for those interested in emerging technologies, and attendees should be familiar with the ACE theory and application. Computer literacy is essential, and participants should be able to navigate an online computer-assisted tool. The workshop will provide a valuable forum for discussion and exchange of ideas among researchers and practitioner in the field of forensic science

Forensic investigative genetic genealogy (FIGG) has rapidly emerged as a powerful tool for forensic identification. Although hundreds of cold cases in the US have been resolved using FIGG, careful consideration must be given when adapting its use to the legal, ethical, and privacy requirements unique to Australia.
Part I of the workshop is conducted FIGG leaders in Australia and the US. It informs participants of the FIGG process and addresses issues specific to Australia. It includes discussions on scientific, operational, privacy, ethical, and legal considerations, FIGG expertise, and quality management requirements relevant to the application of FIGG in Australia. The workshop is suitable for forensic scientists, investigators, intelligence analysts, and legal experts.

Part I – History, practical realization, and effectiveness of FGG, with a discussion of scientific, operational, ethical, and legal considerations that are relevant to the implementation of F/IGG in an Australian context.

Part I is not mandatory, but highly recommended for Part II attendees.

Forensic investigative genetic genealogy (FIGG) has rapidly emerged as a powerful tool for forensic identification. Although hundreds of cold cases in the US have been resolved using FIGG, careful consideration must be given when adapting its use to the legal, ethical, and privacy requirements unique to Australia.

Part II – Hands-on approach through guided exercises and the application of FGG to a simulated case. Part II will be limited to 30 participants. Part II of the workshop is conducted FIGG leaders in Australia and the US. The workshop is suitable for forensic scientists, investigators, intelligence analysts, and legal experts.

Forensic investigative genetic genealogy (FIGG) has rapidly emerged as a powerful tool for forensic identification. Although hundreds of cold cases in the US have been resolved using FIGG, careful consideration must be given when adapting its use to the legal, ethical, and privacy requirements unique to Australia.

Parts I and II of the workshop are conducted FIGG leaders in Australia and the US. They informs participants of the FIGG process and addresses issues specific to Australia. Part I includes discussions on scientific, operational, privacy, ethical, and legal considerations, FIGG expertise, and quality management requirements relevant to the application of FIGG in Australia.

Part II consists of a hands-on approach through guided exercises and the application of FGG to a simulated case. Part II will be limited to 30 participants. The workshop is suitable for forensic scientists, investigators, intelligence analysts, and legal experts

With advances in the technology and digital world, child exploitation has become an epidemic. Where traditional forensic and biometric evidence types are not available, digital forensic evidence has now become the main evidence type for investigations and examinations. In this ‘new’ digital age, facial images are playing a critical part in the identification of both offenders and victims.

The Australian Federal Police, Facial Identification team have developed a targeted training program for examining facial images of children. Through the expert knowledge of its examiners in facial image comparison, anatomy and physiology, craniofacial growth development and ageing; this training program was developed to assist examiners to complete casework effectively and also victim identification specialists to perform basic assessments of children for further examination.

This ½ day program content includes; anatomy and physiology, features for comparison, ageing and stability, siblings/families. There is also practical cases and exercises for comparison’

Professor Tidball-Binz was appointed as the new UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, arbitrary or summary Executions in April 2021. The focus of the mandate is upholding the right to life enshrined in Article 3 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The right to life renders absolute the prohibition on the arbitrary deprivation of life.  Professor Tidball-Binz is the first forensic doctor appointed in the 40-year history of this mandate. Working with the Monash University’s Global Research Initiative on Forensic Medicine and Human Rights, in collaboration with Eleos Justice (Monash Faculty of Law) and the Graduate School of Business & Law at RMIT University, the Special Rapporteur has produced reports with direct relevance to the practice of forensic science and medicine. These reports have been presented to the UN General Assembly and to the UN Human Rights Council and forms the substance of this workshop.

In his vision statement, Professor Tidball-Binz addresses breaches of the right to life in the context of medicolegal death investigation, femicide, deaths in custody and the death penalty, stressing the important contribution that forensic practice can make to death prevention. In his reports he identifies examples of effective implementation of standards or “best practices” and makes a series of recommendations.

The workshop will be indispensable for those interested in the intersection of human rights with forensic medicine and science. It is an opportunity for forensic practitioners to lift their sights from the arduous grind of daily operational work, to hear and think about the place of forensics in the wider world. The issues to be discussed have global relevance and significance.

The outcomes of the research undertaken into the four themes of Professor Tidball-Binz’ mandate so far will be presented by the lead researcher involved. The four themes are:

1. Medico-legal death investigation systems globally
2. The death penalty and torture
3. Deaths in prison
4. Femicide

Professor Tidball-Binz will follow the presentation on each theme with comments. Importantly, the floor will then be open for 30 minutes questioning and discussion on each theme – a real opportunity for dialogue with the researchers and Professor Tidball-Binz.

Approaching forensic medicine from a human rights perspective can be eye opening. It has enabled, drawing on the contribution of human rights to public health, a strong rights-based framework to be articulated focussing on the prevention of unlawful deaths. Preventing human rights abuses is central to the work of the United Nations. Preventing the arbitrary deprivation of life has been the particular focus of the Special Rapporteur’s three-year mandate and has involved the identification of best practices, and examples of effective implementation of standards. The research work has attempted to identify best practice standards, and from them practical measures to respect, protect and fulfil the right to life.

Currently, the main purpose of the forensic examination of fraudulent documents is to authenticate the document for court purposes. However, forensic document examiners and forensic intelligence analysts can take advantage from the examination of fraudulent documents to understand criminal activity and support intelligence-led policing.

The objective of the workshop is to introduce a profiling method of fraudulent identity and travel documents that is used to detect and investigate criminal networks. In this context, forensic science can provide intelligence on various crimes such as financial crimes, organised illegal immigration, prostitution rings, drug cartels or terrorist organisations.

The benefits the attendees will gain from the workshop are:
– To obtain a better understanding of the notion of forensic intelligence and its implementation in practice
– To differentiate the task of authentication with that of profiling, and to understand their respective challenges
– To grasp the key notion of series
– To understand how forensic science can practically contribute to detecting and investigating criminal networks and terrorist organisations
– To understand the benefits of combining human expertise and machine capabilities
– To discuss case studies which highlight implementation issues and the way forward

Hands-on exercises will be performed using the ProFID system implemented in several countries.

The NRGD assures quality of expertise of registered forensic experts but also has the goal to improve that quality where possible. This workshop will focus on improving reporting on DNA activity level by letting experts from this field assess each other’s reports and discuss those results during the workshop. Attendees not reporting on activity level can learn how these reports are written, how one assesses these reports, and how reporting can be improved.

The NRGD will collect anonymized DNA reports containing evaluations of propositions on activity level. Attendees of this workshop are encouraged to submit their own written reports. The NRGD will remove any information such that the report cannot be linked back to a person and/or institute. The assessment is thus blind. Two months prior to the workshop all attendees will be send a number of reports including assessment forms and will be asked to assess each report and send back their assessment. All assessments will be analyzed to determine any points of improvement or discussion and possible inconsistencies that will be discussed during the workshop. Experts can learn from one another based on their own written material and improve the quality of their own reports.

Facial Recognition (FR) is one of the most controversial biometric and forensic disciplines in use around the world today. Much of this controversy is based on old research, misinformation and improper utilization of the technology and supporting services. The key to improving the use and effectiveness of FR systems is ensuring that experienced and well-trained personnel are part of the enterprise.

Research shows that accurate algorithms combined with highly qualified examiners/analysts reduce the error rate for examination decisions to near zero. With the theme “where to from here?” for the 23rd Meeting of the IAFS, this four-hour workshop will improve the understanding and validate the legitimacy of Facial Recognition and Facial Identification as a viable forensic discipline.

This workshop will provide a high-level overview of the Facial Identification Discipline. In addition, participants will have the opportunity to “test” their skills with a small selection of feature and facial comparison sets as well as interact with a skilled instructor to answer questions during the class.

Upon completion of this workshop, participants new to or interested in the facial identification discipline will have a better understanding of the challenges and the benefits of a facial recognition enterprise for their laboratory or agency.

The prolific nature of drug toxicity-related deaths continues to tear apart the social fabric of societies worldwide. In the United States, overdoses are the leading cause of non-natural deaths and directly affect the caseloads of medicolegal and forensic agencies. The combination of the dramatic increase in synthetic opioid usage, such as fentanyl, and the pandemic has dropped life expectancy in the U.S. to its lowest level in 25 years. Even with the documented dramatic increase in drug toxicity-related deaths, the number of deaths is believed to be grossly under-reported due to the lack of recognition, inadequate toxicology testing, and inappropriate death certification.

The workshop, while originating from the United States, is applicable to practices worldwide and will focus on the investigative and forensic pathology aspects of potential drug toxicity-related deaths. The presentation will navigate a potential drug toxicity-related death from the time of notification through the scene investigation, postmortem examination, death certification, and review by a specified fatality team. Attendees will gain proficiency in recognizing and investigating drug-related deaths, an expertise that every medical examiner, coroner, and law enforcement establishment will find valuable.

The workshop is supported by funding from the International Association of Coroners and Medical Examiners.

This workshop will introduce participants to the core working principles of microspectrophotometers, including spectroscopic techniques and microspectrophotometers design, in order to provide a strong foundation for the critical analysis of obtained spectra.

Basic analysis and accepted workflows for standard trace evidence samples will be presented, including standard analytical practices for using microspectrophotometers on fibers, paints, documents, and glass.

Guidelines for spectral interpretation will also be presented with example spectra used for application of these guidelines and to facilitate discussion among participants.

After this workshop, attendees will have learned the operating principles of microspectrophotometers, standard applications for microspectrophotometers in trace evidence, key characteristics of unique situations where microspectrophotometers can be applied, and how to analyze and compare the measured spectra.

Thematic area – Technological advances and challenges in Post-mortem interval (PMI)

1. Classical methods estimating post-mortem interval (90 minutes): Presented by Dr. Y. S. Bansal

The most significant characteristic feature during an autopsy is the post mortem interval (PMI). Decades of research has not yet provided an accurate PMI measurement method that can be used in all circumstances. The traditional approaches, which were based on physical discoveries such as algor mortis, rigor mortis, decomposition changes etc, are very subjective and are influenced by a variety of circumstances. However, these methods are still forming the corner stone in forensic investigations. The first session of the workshop would give insights upon the following learning objectives-

• The attendees will learn about the advantages and disadvantages of classical methods of PMI estimation.
• The significance of classical methods of PMI in real-time scenarios.
• Case studies utilizing classical methods of PMI estimation will be discussed
• Feedback and quizzing 

1. Proteomics in post-mortem interval- promising role (90 minutes): Presented by Dr. Puneet Setia

Determination of PMI in a succinct and objective way has always been a challenge. New approaches involving estimation of various cellular proteins like autophagy proteins, muscle proteins etc using different methods like western blot or ELISA have been explored and look promising. The second session of the workshop would give insights upon the following learning objectives-

• The attendees will learn about role of proteomics in PMI estimation
• The challenges faced in implementing proteomics in PMI estimation
• Case studies utilizing proteomic methods of PMI estimation will be discussed
• The role of animal studies and their relative advantages and disadvantages in emulating them in real life situation will be discussed
• The speaker will be detailing about their experience of using proteomics as a useful tool in PMI estimation
• There will be an open discussion regarding the way the attendees can use these methods in their workplaces for PMI estimation
• Feedback and quizzing 

1. Genomics in post-mortem interval-way ahead (90 minutes): Presented by Dr. Purvi Purohit

Determination of PMI seems illusive and a very subjective task for forensic specialists owing to the lack of robustness of the methods. With advances in molecular biology techniques, their application in forensics has increased tremendously, right from identification by DNA finger printing to now in estimation of PMI. Currently thanatobiology, thanatomicrobiome have shown great promise in this field. But there are challenges to this field as well. The attendees will learn about recent advances in molecular biology for determining PMI

• The attendees will learn about role of genomics in PMI estimation
• The role of animal studies and their relative advantages and disadvantages in emulating them in real life situation will be discussed
• The speaker will be detailing about their experience of using genomics as a useful tool in PMI estimation
• The challenges faced in implementing genomics in PMI estimation
• Case studies utilizing genomic methods of PMI estimation will be discussed
• Feedback and quizzing

Practical aspects of health care of suspects and complainants, both adult and children, who may have mental health and/or substance abuse issues.  The workshop will review fitness to consent to forensic procedures, fitness for interview, fitness to detain, misleading interviews and the potential for miscarriages of justice.

The workshop will be of relevance to lawyers, police, and physicians (forensic, paediatric, ED, custodial).

The aim of this workshop is to familiarise practitioners with cognitive science issues that impact their decision-making, and develop strategies to mitigate their effects. Over the last decade, the forensic sciences have begun to engage with issues relating to human decision-making. Initial interest centred on cognitive biases in forensic practitioners, but has since expanded to include multiple aspects of human cognition that impact the accuracy of decisions made by forensic scientists and how forensic science evidence is interpreted by others. Importantly, many of these issues are an inevitable and unavoidable part of simply being human. Luckily, understanding more about how the human mind works allows us to design simple yet effective ways to mitigate the risks of these issues and safeguard human decision-making in the forensic sciences. Our Thinking Forensics Training presents ’10 things forensic scientists should know about cognitive science’ in a series of fun and interactive activities. We are firm believers that trainees should experience each of our ‘10 things’ for themselves, rather than having us tell them. This approach results in engaging and thoughtful discussion around each ‘thing’, where practitioners share their own unique experiences with the group and help each other design practical strategies to mitigate risk in their specific roles. The Thinking Forensics Training is based on one of our peer-reviewed publications with an international and inter-disciplinary team of cognitive scientists, lawyers and forensic scientists.