Workplace investigations get organisations into trouble more often through process than through findings. An employer who reaches the right conclusion by the wrong route can still lose an unfair dismissal claim, and an employer who runs covert monitoring without the authority to do so has created a second problem while investigating the first.
We provide workplace investigations in Hobart and throughout Tasmania, for private clients, law firms, insurers and employers.
How we run workplace investigations in Hobart
We run workplace matters as a defined process with the allegations put clearly, the respondent given a genuine opportunity to answer, and every step documented as it happens rather than reconstructed afterwards. Scope is agreed in writing at the start. Where surveillance of workers is contemplated, the legal position in the relevant jurisdiction is settled before anything begins, because that is where employers most often come unstuck.
What Tasmania law means for this work
Tasmania licenses investigators under the Security and Investigations Agents Act 2002, administered by Consumer, Building and Occupational Services. The structure is an agent licence carrying endorsements, and investigation work sits under the inquiry agent endorsement. Holding a licence and holding the right endorsement are two different things, so it is worth asking specifically.
Tasmania has no workplace surveillance statute. Workplace matters run on the Listening Devices Act, the Police Offences Act privacy provision, employment law and the federal privacy tort.
Tasmania has no surveillance devices act. Optical surveillance is not covered by a dedicated statute. What constrains it is section 13A of the Police Offences Act 1935, which makes it an offence to observe or visually record a person without consent in a private place or engaged in a private act where a reasonable person would expect privacy, together with the stalking offence in section 192 of the Criminal Code, which expressly covers repeated watching and surveillance.
None of that is a formality. The rules differ genuinely between Australian jurisdictions, and evidence gathered outside them is frequently inadmissible and can expose the person who gathered it. Working inside the TAS framework is what makes the result usable.
The federal statutory tort of serious invasion of privacy, which commenced on 10 June 2025 under Schedule 2 of the Privacy Act 1988, applies on top of TAS law and contains no exemption for private investigators.
This is general information about how we operate, not legal advice. For advice on your circumstances, speak with your lawyer.
What you receive
You receive a report setting out the allegations, the evidence gathered against each, the respondent’s answer, and findings expressed to the civil standard with reasons. It is written so that it can be handed to a lawyer, a tribunal or a board without further work.
Where we work in Tasmania
Greater Hobart sits across the Derwent, and with only two river crossings that is the dominant constraint on any moving surveillance. The western shore runs through the city, Battery Point, Sandy Bay, South and West Hobart, New Town, Moonah, Glenorchy and Claremont. The eastern shore covers Bellerive, Howrah, Rosny, Lindisfarne, Warrane, Mornington, Lauderdale and Cambridge. Kingston and Blackmans Bay sit south, Brighton and Bridgewater north, and Sorell to the east. Beyond Hobart we work Launceston and the north, Devonport, Burnie and the north west coast, and centres including George Town, New Norfolk, Huonville, St Helens and Queenstown.
Where the evidence ends up
- Magistrates Court of Tasmania. Six divisions including Criminal and General, Civil, the Coroners Court and the Administrative Appeals Division. Civil claims to $15,000 as minor claims, $15,001 to $50,000 as civil claims, and above that only by consent.
- Supreme Court of Tasmania. Serious crime and major civil work, with registries at Hobart, Launceston and Burnie.
- TASCAT. Amalgamated nine former tribunals in 2021, including the Workers Rehabilitation and Compensation Tribunal, which is where insurer commissioned evidence is tested here.
- Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia. Family law is federal, so a family matter runs under Commonwealth law even though the conduct investigated is governed by TAS rules.
Frequently asked questions
Can we investigate an employee without telling them?
Preliminary enquiries are one thing. Covert surveillance of workers is quite another, and in some jurisdictions it requires a court authority before it starts. Getting this wrong can convert a straightforward misconduct matter into a much more expensive problem.
What standard of proof applies?
The balance of probabilities, not the criminal standard. What matters just as much is that the process was fair and documented, because that is what gets tested if the outcome is challenged.
Do you cover regional Tasmania as well as Hobart?
Yes. Hobart work can generally be mobilised faster and at lower cost. Regional work carries travel time and expense, and we will tell you honestly whether the likely result justifies it before you commit.
Talk to us about a TAS matter
Every enquiry starts with a confidential conversation about what you actually need, and sometimes that conversation ends with us saying an investigation is not warranted. Call 1300 792 283 or get in touch for a free consultation and a written quote before any work begins.
See also Workplace Investigations in Melbourne, our Tasmania coverage.