Invisible innocence: it happens here too

Yet the guidelines are a substantial step forward in promoting justice. In the US, forty-eight states have DNA innocence-testing legislation; in Austra­lia only Queensland and New South Wales have guidelines. More must and will be done, and these guidelines have started us on the right path.

Time is of the essence. The Queensland guidelines tacitly acknowledge that despite the state's sophisticated criminal justice system, wrongful convic­tions occur – and no one wins when an innocent person is incarcerated. These guidelines will finally allow some of the wrongly convicted people in Queen­sland to use DNA to prove their innocence.

Our students are a success, too. A system is made up of rules, but people make those rules. I am confident some of our students will be among those who will make a difference for the better when they join the workforce.

As the film Conviction highlights, exonerations are never easy and almost always involve a long, hard-fought battle. Prisoners are some of the most disadvantaged and disempowered people in society, and those who claim innocence are easy to ignore. The project will continue to fight for proper investigation of claims, to correct errors and support reforms to reduce the potential for wrongful convictions. It will work to assist those who are wrongly convicted to make visible their innocence.