How a workplace investigation works
From initial triage and terms of reference through evidence, interviews, analysis, and reporting.
Read the process guideR6I guidance library
Understand the Process Before Work Begins
Practical information for better-scoped decisions.
Short, plain-English guidance for employers, solicitors, and insurers considering investigation, incident-review, verification, or digital-intelligence work.
Guidance
Start with the decision, scope, and safeguards.
Each guide is general information. The right process depends on the allegations, policies, legal framework, evidence, and people involved.
Procedural fairness
What notice, a genuine opportunity to respond, impartiality, and evidence-based reasoning look like in practice.
Read the fairness guideIndependent or internal?
Questions that help an employer decide whether independence, capacity, sensitivity, or scrutiny justify an external investigator.
Compare the optionsSafety incident investigations
How evidence preservation, reconstruction, and systems-focused contributing-factor analysis support learning and decisions.
Read about safety investigationsVerification services
How a defined purpose, proportionate collection, reliable sources, and explicit limits improve background checks.
Read about verificationLawful OSINT
Why publicly accessible information still requires authority, necessity, fair collection, corroboration, and careful reporting.
Read the OSINT guideAcross every matter
The same disciplines carry through.
Scope before collection
- AuthorityKnow who may commission the work
- RelevanceCollect what answers the question
- FairnessTest adverse material properly
- LimitsState what cannot be concluded
Guidance reviewed 28 July 2026. It is general information only and does not replace legal, industrial-relations, privacy, emergency, or WHS advice for a particular matter.
No sensitive details initially
Start with a confidential call.
Use the first call to establish the broad issue, urgency, authority, conflicts, and fit before records or allegations are shared.