The Private Investigator Changing The Game
With Jason King from Regional Queensland Investigations
Jason King is changing the way investigations are approached in regional Australia, bringing decades of law enforcement, legal and investigative experience to communities that have traditionally had to look to the capital cities for specialist expertise, advocating to those who feel voiceless and pushing for higher industry standards across the board.
In 2022, Jason moved from Melbourne to Mackay. Observing unmet demand for his services he rebranded his company two years later, turning J&D Online Investigations to Regional Queensland Investigations with an ambitious vision: to provide regional communities with the same calibre of investigative expertise available in Australia's major cities.
While Mackay is home, it is far from the centre of his operation. His work takes him throughout regional Queensland - from Cairns, Atherton and Toowoomba to Western Queensland - as well as into the Northern Territory.
“Regional communities deserve the same quality of service as the cities,” Jason said. “They shouldn’t have to settle for less.”
Jason's career has included service with Victoria Police and the Australian Federal Police, along with extensive experience in private investigations, law enforcement and the legal sector. He holds degrees in law and computer science and has worked across areas including counter-terrorism, cybercrime, child exploitation, fraud, sports integrity and major investigations.
His experience has also included reviewing historical investigations and working on cold cases, where the combination of investigative knowledge and legal understanding can provide a different perspective on evidence that may have been overlooked decades earlier.
Day to day, workplace investigations have become a significant part of Regional Queensland Investigations' work, particularly where disputes, allegations of misconduct, internal conflict or competing factions have created difficult situations for management.
Jason's point of difference is an independent perspective, held with integrity.
“When I go in, I don’t know Peter from Paul,” he said. “My role is to look at the evidence and make recommendations based on what I find. No conflict of interest.”
It is a seemingly simple principle, but one that can become complicated in regional organisations where professional and personal relationships often overlap.
The work has taken Jason into investigations involving alleged fraud, workplace disputes, WorkCover matters, local government and community organisations.
All the while, as Queensland Chapter President of the Australian Institute of Professional Investigators, Jason pushes to regulate and keep the cowboys out of Private Investigation.
Private investigators do not have police powers, he reminds us. They cannot simply force someone to provide information, access someone's phone because a client demands it, or break the law in pursuit of evidence. If they do? The evidence may no longer stand up in court.
“The public think that we can do anything, and we can break the law to do it,” Jason said. “We can’t break the law.”
That is also why he is outspoken about licensing within the private investigation industry.
Jason’s influence is now extending into the future, as the business grows and he mentors the next generation of investigators - though still keeps his eye across all cases passing through the business. Always looking to expand his impact, he’s also Director of new Cairns-based Regional Queensland Security Services (RQSS), and even lectures Law at CQ University on the side.
Jason’s background in cybercrime and child exploitation has also left him passionate about education, particularly when it comes to protecting young people online. He believes parents, rather than children alone, need to be equipped to understand how online grooming and exploitation occur, in order to truly make change.
Regional Queensland Investigations demonstrates that the biggest change-maker is not always the one in the big city, on the podium, or in front of the TV camera. Though Jason has lived this life, his reputation and acclaim has been a result of his work - not the motivation for it.
Instead, he measures his success on impact; on cases solved, victims helped, perpetrators held accountable, and communities no longer left behind.
