How do I get a private investigators licence in Australian Capital Territory?   

Australia Capital Territory ACT does not yet require private investigators to be licensed. However, it is anticipated that licencing will be a requirement here in the near future.

Therefore, private sector employers ask that their inquiry agents are licensed in NSW in order to undertake inquiry agent work in ACT. Licencing is also driven by the fact that many insurance companies ask that inquiry agents investigating on their behalf in ACT are also licenced in NSW. See NSW licencing below. 

Some (but not all) investigation companies in ACT deliver their services to Government bodies and these Government bodies oftern prefer that their investigators also hold a Certificate IV in Government (Investigations) PSP41504. This is a nationally accredited course designed for individuals who are authorised to investigate breaches of legislation, regulations, Government or organisational policy. If you work in Government or you are seeking employment in Federal Government as an investigator you may need to have the Certificate IV in Government Investigation qualification. This is also required by other organisations including ATO, Customs, ComCare, Centrelink, Child Support, Veteran's Affairs, Australian Media Communications Authority, Medicare and many more. See Certificate IV in Government Investigation.

Private Investigators in the Sate of NSW are called Private Inquiry Agents. The activities of Private Inquiry Agents is licenced and governed by The Commercial Agents & Private Inquiry Agents (CAPI) Act 2004 and Regulation. Completed licence applications are processed centrally by the Security Industry Registry, NSW Police.

Private Inquiry Agent activities includes Investigation of persons (IP) and Surveillance of persons (SP). Therefore, if you undertake any activity involving the investigation of persons and surveillance of persons then you must hold a CAPI licence. This licence also applies for Commercial Agent Activities which cover activities such as repossession of goods, debt collection and process serving. However, for our purpose we need only concentrate only on the Private Inquiry Agents activities which includes investigation of persons and surveillance of persons.

Licences have been placed into two groups

1. Operator licences for Agents (employees) and

2. Master licences for Businesses (employers).

Any individual or business conducting CAPI activities must hold a CAPI licence for those activities.

Holders of Operator licences must be employed by a Master licence holder (not subcontracting), unless they themselves hold an individual Master licence of their own.

Training requirements and restrictions.

All newly licenced operators will be restricted for the first 12 months and will only be eligible for a Provisional CAPI (P-CAPI) licence.

P-CAPI Agents must be employed by a CAPI Master licence holder (not subcontracting but casual is acceptable) for the first 12 months.

and relevant training and educational requirements must be met within a specific period of time for the licence to ‘mature’ to fill unrestricted licence. 

P-CAPI Agents must complete training and educational requirements within 12 months and must before their licence to ‘mature’ to fill unrestricted licence. 

Certificate III in Investigative Services is the training and educational requirement. 

Certificate III in Investigative Services is the training requirement for the private investigations industry throughout Australia. This course will teach you and develope your skills in planning and conducting an investigation. You will also learn how to coordinate work teams in an investigation industry context. It can generally be completed in 12 weeks on a part time study basis. It can also be undertaken on a full time capacity.

Training of Certificate III in Investigative Services and Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL).

There are a number of training organisations in Australia that deliver this training and prices vary. You may also be eligible to obtain this certificate through Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) as recognition of your previous employment and learning. e.g. Policing, security or enforcement.

Speak to us at Investigator Recruitment for more information about Registered Training Organisations and Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL).

Click   to visit security Industry Registry, NSW Police for more information and application forms.

Or, speak to us at Investigator Recruitment to get a market perspective. We are not legal experts in licencing legislation and we will ultimately direct you to the Security Industry Registry of the NSW Police. However, we can provide you with information about licencing and training from an employment perspective. We will try to guide you in the right direction regarding the Australian Commercial and Private Investigation employment sector.