About Investigations Differently
At Investigations Differently, we don’t believe in a top-down approach to investigations and risk management. Instead, we help organisations to harness their people as part of the solution and deliver systemic risk reduction.
Mark Alston founded Investigations Differently in 2019, recognising the need to provide high-risk organisations with a better way to approach investigations and risk management. We enable organisations to learn critical information from their people about the way that work is completed every day. We show them how to take this information and translate this into practical measures for improvement.
As Executive Director, Mark has extensive experience in investigations and risk management which commenced as a Federal Agent in the Australian Federal Police, responsible for investigating organised crime and large-scale drug and fraud offences. Mark has more than 20 years of experience, both in Australia and internationally, for a diverse range of organisations including the Royal Australian Air Force, BHP, Rio Tinto, Teys Australia, Lutheran Services, Origin, Serco, Macmahon Holdings, Urban Utilities, Powerlink and Mitchell Services.
We specialise in:
- Investigations and risk management training for the mining and construction industries
- Workplace investigations and risk management training for other high-risk industries
- New view workplace investigations training
- Helping organisations to understand their “normal work”


“My experience in investigations commenced as a Federal Agent in the Australian Federal Police almost 30 years ago. I then moved into operational roles in mining and was very much “on the tools” driving trucks, using explosives and so on before progressing into specific safety roles. This experience drives me to make sure that the interventions we recommend not only make a practical difference to the work, but also make sense to the workers.”
Mark Alston
Director & Principal Facilitator