Computer Forensics in Australia and New Zealand

I live in Queensland (best state) and work in Brisbane doing computer forensics for law enforcement. You can look for positions within State and Federal police agencies-which will do everything when it comes to computer examinations-from murders, assaults, child porn, child procurement, indecent dealing, fraud, major crime and so on.

General requirements of people I see that work in this area are people with a sound IT background, that hold a degree, at the very least. Also, having some life experience helps. I got my hands dirty for a couple of years first with network admin, some server admin and desktops roles before applying.

Outside Government, well I can't speak for, but you have companies like PricewaterhouseCoopers, Deloitte and KPMG are the big ones, that do the financial fraud, tax evasion investigations. So I'm not sure what their requirements would be like, other then lots of IT experience, considering the wages offered. Mind you, a couple people I know that work for these companies have a law enforcement background.

Go to seek.com.au and type in computer forensics. I'm sure you can find something there for OZ/NZ. Good luck!

Sorry for the long post, you've just asked a question I know a bit about!

I'm an Aussie (from Victoria, which is clearly the best state Robbo747) who has done the opposite to you and come from Australia to the UK in the last year.

I worked in an Investigations/Cybercrime/e-Fraud/Forensics/Malware/Incident Response team for one of the big four banks for about three years before coming over to the UK. Prior to that I worked at an international corporation in the same kind of areas, but for external clients.

My pathway was via a University Earn as You Learn program where I worked as part of my degree. I was lucky enough to get into the team doing forensics and the rest as they say is history.

In terms of requirements to work in the private sector in Australia, as Robbo747 has mentioned the main thing people will look for is past experience, as well as a solid technical background. There is nothing like the PI requirements that are present in some US states.

In terms of opportunites the only thing I would say is that the forensics sector is still quite small in Australia, and from what I have seen most employers are looking for experienced hires when recruiting (outside Government at least). Some of the consultancies take on small amounts of grads each year directly into their Forensic Tech groups, but I do mean small numbers - probably less than 10 nationally across the industry. From what I understand speaking with some people from NZ the industry is even smaller over there. You could try joining Police Services as a civilian straight into their forensic units, however again I would think they would prefer people with some experience most of the time (although a forensics degree from uni will certainly help). I'd also be looking at the Financial Services Sector for possibilites there. You might not be doing straight forensics though, rather be in a team that does lot of security related work including forensics - but that is certainly not a hinderance to your career.

The other thing you need to be aware of is the issue of security clearances. If you apply for a job that requires a mid-to-high level of government security clearance, you might not get one if you are not a citizen. I know for myself, even though I have a UK passport and full citizenship, I have to have been resident in the UK for three years to qualify for security clearances (which has limited my employment chances a little here).

Finally, if you are looking for grad positions, because the Australian University year runs Feb - Nov, most grad positions in Australia start in January. Also the applications for the programs close around March or April - so start looking now!

Hope that helped!

I think Robbo747 and ddewildt have covered most of the detail for Aus but I just thought I would add a couple more details. I am also an Aussie who has moved to the UK.

Back in Aus I worked for a State Police Force and then moved in to a position with the Federal Government.

The State Police Force required me to have a computer related degree (almost no forensic degrees yet in Aus) but did not require Australian citzenship, there was only a criminal records check and a guy originally from the UK started there the same time as me. I had a solid technical/computer support background (3.5 years) before moving in to that role.

The Federal government however required security clearance with a 10 year background check and also Aus citizenship.

All in all I think it is actually easier than moving the other way. If I wanted to work for 'The Feds' in the UK I have to live here for 10 years first and as ddewildt already mentioned, all police forces in the UK require 3 years residency, this is all regardless of citizenship.

For private enterprise I would say that you are going to have the most luck in Sydney or Melbourne, positions do exist in Brisbane and other cities but they are rare as hens teeth.

One of the good things about Australia is that anything with a security clearance, the government keeps in house. This means that private work doesn't require a security clearance, and hence you can work as a foreign national. That said, all the private jobs I've seen require experience. Generally in Oz you cut your teeth in government and then get poached to the private sector for better money, although with the new degrees coming out that will slowly change, but it's more cost effective for a private to not train from scratch. So without actual CF experience, getting a private job will be hard.

One of the good things about Australia is that anything with a security clearance, the government keeps in house. This means that private work doesn't require a security clearance, and hence you can work as a foreign national.

Have to disagree 100% with you here Tony. The company I worked for had multiple government contracts and people who worked on them were required to have Highly Protected level clearance. No clearance, no working for that client. I myself had just started the process of getting vetted when I left the company to work somewhere else.

I probably should have said that the vast majority of the work in private industry in Australia doesn't require a clearance. Over here in the US the vast majority of the jobs you'll see advertised require a clearance. As Kat said, we were able to employ a UK citizen at QldPol which I've yet to see here in the US. The only foreigners I know who worked for LEOs or QuaNGOs in the US worked in training.

Also, it's been a while, but I'm fairly certain that Highly Protected is different to the national security protection levels in Australia. I remember it as TS, Sec, Conf, Restr and Unclass.

I note that you said "people who worked on them" and you didn't get the clearance, so presumably you could still work for your former employer without a clearance. I'm going to hazard a guess that the agency you worked with was ASIC? They are the only agency I know that outsourced, and again, I think their material might come outside the national security clearance system. I've never heard of a policing, intel or defense CF function being outsourced in Oz.

I probably should have said that the vast majority of the work in private industry in Australia doesn't require a clearance. Over here in the US the vast majority of the jobs you'll see advertised require a clearance. As Kat said, we were able to employ a UK citizen at QldPol which I've yet to see here in the US. The only foreigners I know who worked for LEOs or QuaNGOs in the US worked in training.

You are correct that a lot of private industry work won't require clearances, although I have been told of some consultancies that do work for government.

Also, it's been a while, but I'm fairly certain that Highly Protected is different to the national security protection levels in Australia. I remember it as TS, Sec, Conf, Restr and Unclass.

I note that you said "people who worked on them" and you didn't get the clearance, so presumably you could still work for your former employer without a clearance. I'm going to hazard a guess that the agency you worked with was ASIC? They are the only agency I know that outsourced, and again, I think their material might come outside the national security clearance system.

The clients I primarily worked on were private, not government. There was a chance of moving on to some government contracts, hence the need for the clearance. The company had many government contracts focusing on all sorts of different things, only some including CF/Incident Response. Also, HP is a federal clearance and I know it is used by many federal departments.

I've never heard of a policing, intel or defense CF function being outsourced in Oz.

I did hear that at one stage the whole NSW Police Computer Crime was closed and outsourced privately.

I did hear that at one stage the whole NSW Police Computer Crime was closed and outsourced privately.

Hmm. Just learned something new. Actually the NSW Police Computer Crime could not be outsourced because it investigates computer related crimes (not just performing forensic analysis) and to work there, one must be

1) a police officer
2) a designated detective
3) have IT qualifications

ddewildt, unless you are referring to some other unit within the NSW Police, the information you 've heard is incorrect -)

Thanks for pulling me up there ecophobia! Seeing as I know you and who you work for, you're far better placed to comment than I!

But I probably should have worded that a little better. I heard the NSW Police forensics capability (I believe its called the Electronic Evidence Branch) was outsourced at one stage, although its now been brought back in.