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The Morrison government has granted the Queensland University of Technology with a $2.2 million contract to develop forensic technology capable of identifying the remains of Australian service members who died on the battlefield during the First and Second World Wars and the Korean War.
Funded through the Defence Innovation Hub, it is an important investment for Defence, according to Minister for Defence Industry Melissa Price.
“This investment shows the Morrison government’s ongoing commitment to recovering and identifying the remains of service members,” Minister Price said.
“This leading-edge technology is invaluable in identifying the remains of Australian soldiers recovered from historical battlefields.
“Our soldiers, sailors and airmen deserve to be identified and finally laid to rest by their family and loved ones.”
The project seeks to combine traditional forensic methods with next-generation DNA sequencing technologies to identify recovered remains from historic conflicts.
According to Trevor Evans, member for Brisbane, this investment in QUT’s forensic technology capabilities will rightly benefit the families of the missing and is an important national responsibility.
"QUT’s world leading DNA identification technology will enhance sovereign forensic capability and support Defence’s Unrecovered War Casualties teams’ identifications," Evans added.
[Related: NSW firm tapped to build Army vehicle fleet]
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