About Us

Overview

Over a period of almost 20 years, the Principals and Investigators at Queensland Surveillance Services have carried out thousands of surveillance investigations, specialising in sensitive matters and difficult locations. During this time our services have been utilised by a major WorkCover authority for 13 consecutive years. We pride ourselves on providing quality video and photographic evidence supported by comprehensive reports. What sets our company apart from some of our competitors is the personalised service and strong communication with our clients.

Our Operations Manager has 22 years experience as a Surveillance Operative working primarily in the insurance industry. He is well known by a number of major insurers, corporate clients and legal advisors having carried out hundreds of surveillance investigations both as a sub-contractor and as the principal of his own company. His extensive knowledge of the industry and WorkCover guidelines/requirements in Queensland is a valuable asset to the future growth and success of our business.

Our business has demonstrated an ability to carry out high volume investigations as required by our long standing clients, and on a number of occasions were the only firm who were able to respond to requests for urgent surveillance at very short notice.

We believe that in our service to our major and smaller clients we have demonstrated that we are an industry leader in the field of surveillance investigations, particularly those which require a value-added effort because they are “sensitive or out of the ordinary”. We have been entrusted and successfully completed many investigations of a sensitive nature where compromise would have resulted in adverse publicity.

QSS is willing to operate in any area of Queensland and/or northern New South Wales through our network of experienced NSW surveillance operatives if required. Our database and long term association with experienced surveillance operatives and factual investigators in Queensland allows us to attend to various types of investigations throughout the state with the emphasis on keeping costs to a minimum.

Our business does offer, as a value-add service, an elite team which can work in any desired location to conduct surveillance activities which require the expertise of highly experienced personally such as our principals.

QSS has extensive experience in managing a business and subcontractors. Whilst there has been a name change in that time, the business has been operated continuously by the same Managing Director. Prior to establishing an Investigation business our Principal had 13 years’ experience in the Federal Police Force, attaining the rank of Detective Sergeant. He was responsible for supervision of police of lower ranks. The Principal of QSS has also worked in the security industry and for a period of time was employed as Security Manager at Brisbane’s Mayfair Crest Hotel, where he regularly supervised 12 permanent and up to 50 contract personnel.

Our office premises are protected by an eight-sector electronic back-to-base alarm system, fitted with five passive infra red detectors, multiple reed/magnetic switches, internal and external sirens, an external blue strobe light and a 12-volt battery backup. It features up and down load capability for remote programming, testing and monitoring. The system has an auto dial modem which dials four telephone numbers consecutively to notify of an alarm situation, the first being the authorised security firm, Security Monitoring Services which is a division of Chubb Security Australia. It has ‘follow me’ programming which allows you to call the system from anywhere and let it know your contact number if you are not available on your mobile phone.

All files, legal and/or sensitive documentation is held in locked steel filing cabinets. All video tapes and/or disk copies are also stored in a locked steel cabinet.

Neither of the Directors of our company, QSS itself or any of its subcontractors has been mentioned or referred to by any court or inquiry in any State or Territory of Australia including the Qld Criminal Justice Commission, Qld Crime and Misconduct Commission or the NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption.

Personnel

All surveillance operatives and investigators engaged by QSS have no less than 10 years experience in most types of investigations.

Our Principals long association in the investigation industry have resulted in acquiring a large data base of experienced and well recognised investigators state wide and also interstate. For this reason we are able to arrange and attend to most matters at short notice anywhere in Australia.

Through attending many workshops and seminars we have a network of contacts in various countries which also allows QSS to organise investigations outside if Australia if and when required.

Our Approach

At all times during an investigations QSS is very aware that to breach any of the privacy principals involved would result in irreversible damage to our clients public image. We believe a firm such as ours with well trained operatives can achieve good results without needing to breach these principals and to do so is unprofessional and unacceptable. This is reinforced continually to our operatives and they are instructed to call our office for advice if they have even the slightest doubts about the situation.

We are aware of the various acts, policies and guidelines that apply in this area and abide by them at all times. These include the WorkCover Privacy Policy, the Invasion of Privacy Act of 1971, the Security Providers Act of 1993, the Qld Government Privacy Plan, the Commonwealth of Australia Covert Surveillance Guidelines, and the Qld Government Information Standard 42 Information Privacy Guidelines.

Specific Capabilities

Our method of approach and experienced personnel has resulted in consistently providing high standards to our clients.

We have shown an ability to respond quickly to requests to attend to urgent matters while maintaining a high standard of result, and has had no problem attending to requests outside the company’s normal area of operations. We are happy to travel to any location to undertake work, and are quite prepared to attend to matters outside south-east Queensland, if required.

QSS has demonstrated an ability to successfully undertake urgent matters of a very sensitive nature when requested and has considerable experience in various forms of surveillance, including static, mobile, foot, cross country and long range.

The company principal and its operatives’ knowledge of the Workers’ Compensation and Rehabilitation Act 2003, WorkCover Queensland Act 1996, the Evidence Act, the Security Providers’ Act 1993 and related legislation affecting the insurance industry is excellent and has been consistently applied during the company’s time as a member of major investigation panels. All operatives contracted to QSS have detailed knowledge of and have read and understand all aspects of the above ACTS.

Our company is committed to meeting all our clients Service Level Standards and applies these as a minimum in all investigations, communications and reports and any approved parties associated with an investigation. QSS welcomes performance assessments and is committed to continuing to supply the high level of service for which it has gained an excellent reputation.

Technology

QSS is strongly committed to improvement of business, information technology systems and office and field equipment and is constantly assessing developments relevant to our industry. We have been able to assist our clients a number of times with technology related problems that they have encountered. Recently we were able to advise a large client of a solution to a problem that all companies have or will encounter when attempting to transfer video digitally onto a DVD format, which is the direction our industry has taken. When the image is transferred using the analogue S video cables or AV cables the Time & Date Block is transferred intact and can be seen, but the high quality of the digital recording is lost. When the Image is transferred digitally the Time & Date Block is not displayed. This is of course critical from an evidentiary point. We had encountered this problem when experimenting with digital video transfer and through research by our Senior Software Engineer, we purchased a software program from overseas and installed it, allowing the Time & Date Block to transfer intact. We were able to advise this particular client of three sources for the appropriate software so the information could be passed on to other members of the investigation panel. We have also assisted to solve the privacy problems associated with disposing of recorded video tapes that are no longer required. We sourced a Degaussing Wand which completely wipes a tape in a matter of a few seconds and advised our client of its specifications and where it could be obtained. We believe it has been very successful and works that well that it has allowed tapes to be re-used, at a considerable cost saving.

Training & Development

Professional education and training is important for all QSS operatives. They are encouraged to join relevant professional associations, for example, the AIPI or AIPD, and participate in Continuing Professional Development activities. Our company holds regular training sessions to update operatives on issues like changes to legislation, including the Privacy Act, and any changes to WorkCover legislation or processes and procedures. Our Principal maintains close contact with all clients and Investigators at all stages of an investigation. While all operatives have significant experience, they also benefit from our Principal’s many years’ experience, particularly where cases “out of the ordinary” are involved.

Client Commitment

QSS embraces its client’s principles of excellent, integrity, respect and responsiveness, has the vision and focus to assist its clients to exceed its goals, and has a strong customer focus.

Our company’s commitment to our clients is to provide professional, quality surveillance/investigative services in a timely manner. The QSS team is cognisant of our major client’s requirement to provide services in a manner which empathises with the needs and interests of their clients while simultaneously meeting our client’s goals.

QSS offers experience, competitive rates, and the capacity to service our client’s needs in a highly efficient, professional manner, which minimises administrative overheads.

Our communications with all our clients are always kept concise but contain all relevant information. We believe the interaction with our clients and their staff is second to none. Furthermore our experience has allowed our clients to pass responsibility for many of the ongoing decisions of individual cases on to us, thus reducing their work load. We take pride in the fact that numerous times our clients have requested us to assess if an investigation is possible and have been guided by our advice.

As a medium sized privately owned firm we have lower overheads and are not profit driven. We believe we have demonstrated in the past that this allows us to ‘go the extra yards’ to provide a quality service that larger impersonal firms have difficulty matching. Our years of experience working for many organisations is testimony to the company’s skills and expertise.