An external independent investigator has no greater powers than an in-house investigator when it comes to obtaining information. However, an external expert who has worked in a wide range of settings and has dealt with similar matters many times before, brings with them a breadth of experience that can be beneficial to an investigation. Independent investigators can also bring a level of perspective and a fresh set of eyes to a situation. In many cases, participants feel more at ease speaking with someone external, particularly where trust in the organisation is low. This gives external investigators a unique advantage when it comes to getting to the heart of a problem.

It is best to seek advice from legal professionals before deciding on disciplinary action or dismissal. Synergy has excellent connections within the legal profession and can help put you in touch with the right employment lawyer. We can make findings of fact in relation to whether something is likely to have occurred and we can evaluate substantiated allegations against organisation policies and advise you as to whether there has been a breach of organisation policy. However, we defer to your legal advisers when it comes to what sort of disciplinary action needs to be taken against individuals.

That’s easy! Simply give us a call on 1300 664 341 or contact us using our handy web form and we’ll get the ball rolling. All of our investigations are conducted under the terms of our standard service agreement which covers what level of service you should expect from us and also our payment terms and conditions. We also ask you to write the Terms of Reference (our instructions) for the investigation. We have templates to help you with this. Once the service agreement has been signed and draft terms of reference sent through, we’ll appoint and brief an investigator and have them contact you directly to discuss next steps.

We charge a flat hourly rate for all investigative activities and report writing. This is billed monthly with 14-day terms, along with any expenses accrued on behalf of the organisation in carrying out our investigation. Travel time is charged at a reduced hourly rate. Any out of pocket expenses such as travel costs or meeting room hire, will be cleared with you first to ensure you have control over expenditure all the way along. We also provide weekly activity logs to keep you up to date with the hours accruing and the progress of the investigation.

All of our investigators are licensed private investigators which means they have all completed a minimum of Certificate III in Investigative Services. All of our investigators have had extensive real world experience conducting workplace investigations. Some have qualifications in Government Investigations and some are former police officers and government investigators. All of our investigators are hand-picked for their impeccable credentials and experience and are subject to rigorous pre-employment screening.

Yes! We are individual members of the Australasian Association of Workplace Investigators (AAWI) and the Australian Human Resources Institute (AHRI).