Frequently Asked Questions

Factual investigations are investigations to establish the facts of a situation, often for an insurance claim or when additional information or detailed explanations are needed. In factual investigations, it’s often necessary to collect evidence such as witness statements and relevant documents to work out what happened.

Desktop investigations are usually conducted on a computer desktop because there’s no need to collect physical evidence or interview witnesses. They often involve database searches, image searches and social media analysis. Desktop investigations are commonly used to locate persons of interest, for example, debtors or witnesses.

Surveillance investigations observe a person or thing from a distance, for example:

• From a car
• While undercover
• By drone (subject to privacy laws and Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) restrictions).

Often, surveillance investigations are used where there’s doubt about the legitimacy of an insurance claim, and other means of investigation have failed or are unavailable.

See our Services page for more information about factual, desktop and surveillance investigations.

If we ask you to participate in an investigation, it’s because you may have some relevant information. Perhaps you reported an issue to your employer, or someone has made allegations against you, or you witnessed an incident.

We can’t force you to participate. However, there are some things you should know.

For example, if we are investigating a workplace issue or incident, your employer has legal obligations to investigate, especially safety issues. For this reason, your employer may have policies that require you to cooperate with an investigation. There may also be terms and conditions in your employment contract (or the terms of your engagement if you’re a contractor). Failing to cooperate may give your workplace grounds to terminate or suspend your employment or give you a warning, depending on the circumstances.

To learn more about your obligations, you can speak to your workplace about your employment (or engagement) terms and conditions. To learn more, see our information pages:

• Information for Insured Parties
• Information for Complainants
• Information for Respondents
• Information for Witnesses

The length of an investigation depends on its complexity, the availability of evidence, and the cooperation of everyone involved. It can take several days or weeks to complete, especially if we need to re-interview witnesses.

An investigation must start as soon as possible after an incident or issue arises. However, it’s usually not possible to estimate how long an investigation will take.

To learn more, see our information pages:

• Information for Claimants
• Information for Insured Parties
• Information for Complainants
• Information for Respondents
• Information for Witnesses

The outcomes of an investigation will be different in every case. We identify as many contributing factors as possible and report our findings to the workplace. The workplace will take any action it sees as appropriate, for example:

• Updating safety procedures
• Staff retraining
• Improving record-keeping
• Implementing new workplace policies
• Taking remedial action to reduce certain risks
• Introducing new processes
• Improving communication
• Taking disciplinary action, such as warnings or termination of employment

We recognise that many circumstances may make a person vulnerable and understand that the following may be potential causes of vulnerability:

• Age
• Disability
• Mental or physical health conditions
• Family violence issues
• Cultural background
• Non-English speaking background
• Literary issues
• Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander status
• Financial issues
• Living in a remote location

We encourage you to let us know if you’re a vulnerable person. We will do our best to accommodate your needs and address your concerns.

For example, if you’re not confident speaking English, we can arrange an interpreter or support person to assist you. If you live in a remote location, we can interview you by phone call or video conferencing. In some circumstances, we may travel to you for the interview.

We can also arrange to take frequent breaks and ensure that the interview doesn’t go longer than a specified time.

When collecting your personal or sensitive (medical) information, we comply with Commonwealth privacy laws. In particular, any requirements with which your insurer must comply. Where relevant, we will provide you with our privacy policy and the insurer’s privacy policy, detailing how your personal and sensitive information is collected, stored, used, disclosed, or destroyed.

To learn more about how we collect personal or sensitive information on this website, see our Privacy Policy

The Insurance Council of Australia’s (ICA’s) General Insurance Code of Practice applies to general insurance products. We must comply with the Code when investigating claims relating to general insurance products. The Code does not cover specific insurance products, including:

• Compulsory third party (CTP) insurance
• Workers compensation insurance
• Marine insurance
• Motor vehicle injury insurance

All our investigators hold a 2E Security License. We also have a MC Master Security Licence, which authorises us to carry on investigation activities.

If you wish to verify our licence, you can visit the NSW Government’s Public Register of Licences. You will be asked to enter our Master Licence number 412513267. After you hit the search button, you will find details of our Master Licence.

Our investigators are trained in range of disciplines which include but are not limited to:

• Certificate III Investigative Services
• Certificate IV Government Investigations
• ICAM Lead Investigator 
• OSINT Cyber Intelligence 
• Aerial Drone Surveillance (CASA Certified)