About the Centre for Forensic Science

The Centre for Forensic Science, based in the University of Western Australia, is Western Australia/Australia's forensic gateway into Europe and South East Asia.

It was founded in 1999 as the Forensic Science Unit. Within three years, it achieved international recognition and with the support of the Western Australian Government became established as the Centre for Forensic Science in 2002.

The Centre's primary focus is on postgraduate programmes: Graduate Diploma, Master, and Master/PhD of Forensic Science. Over 120 students are enrolled in courses at the Centre, making this one of the largest postgraduate communities on campus. Our students are exposed to a wide variety of disciplines in forensic science, including entomology, anthropology, DNA, chemistry and pathology. The scope of the Centre is continually expanding: In 2008 we saw the introduction of the Graduate Certficate in Forensic Science, followed by a one-year research intensive Master program which became available in 2009.

Since its inception, the role of the Centre has also expanded into other areas, such as criminal cold case reviews, forensic consultancy, teaching abroad and hosting international conferences on a variety of forensic issues. The Centre has forged links with State and National Police Services in Australia and leads the forensic community in many sciences such as Forensic Entomology and Botany.