Investigators in Australia cover a myriad of different occupations and span across many different industries, both government, corporate and private. Becoming a licensed private investigator opens a world of different experiences.

Mind you, like any profession, there can be boring roles too.

A quick check of available investigator jobs (hint: type “investigator” into Seek) will bring up everything from investigating insurance matters and compulsory third party, to working for the United Nations. And everything in between.

But there are many roles in local government calling for investigators. Often this is not what they are referred to; more job roles like Local Laws Officer, Compliance Officer, Rangers, Animal Management Inspectors, Parking Officers, Environmental Health Officers, Planning Investigations, Enforcement Officers, Development Compliance, Community Safety, Regulatory Services, Response Officers, Patrol Officers ….. you get the idea!

Some local governments have hundreds of difference officers for compliance, some have just one. I once met a “Ranger” in the Torres Straight who collected stray animals and investigated environmental pollution during the day and caught crocodiles at night! Needless to say, there probably isn’t an online investigation course for that!

But the Certificate III in Investigative Services and the Certificate IV in Government Investigations are a good start.

The good thing about working in local government is that there’s lots of opportunity to investigate. Typically, those involved in local laws compliance respond to complaints from the community about dog attacks, barking dogs, noise complaints, illegal dumping, parking, advertising signage, unsightly premises and a range of things in between. Each local government area (LGA, or Council) have their own local laws. These are regulations determined by each council based on differing needs.

Another important thing to note as an investigator in local laws is the standard of proof. There are two standards – beyond reasonable doubt and the balance of probabilities – and it’s important to know the difference. More about that later. The important thing to note is that it’s the balance of probabilities that apply to local laws.

So, if you want to be a local laws investigator – or indeed catch prehistoric reptiles – look to your local council where there’s never a shortage of careers.

Related Tag: Australian Private Investigators