About Us

Profile: John McGinn

Our principal John McGinn has extensive experience in the field of forensic document examination acquired over 18 years with both the Western Australian Police Forensic Division and the Australian Immigration Department.

He initially acquired his expertise within the Western Australian Police Forensic Division, where he undertook intensive training in the examination and comparison of handwriting and signatures. His training included the study of literature and journals on handwriting and signature comparison. He has successfully completed Validation Trials through the Forensic Expertise Profiling Laboratory of La Trobe University Melbourne and forensic proficiency tests conducted by Collaborative Testing Services Inc.

In 2003 he moved to the Australian Immigration Department and in recent years he has been an Assistant Director of that department's Document Examination Network. In that role, he has managed a team of people responsible for the forensic examination of documents used for travel and identity and documents presented to substantiate qualifications or other entitlement claims. He has extensive experience in the evaluation and interpretation of security features present in documents, and vast knowledge of methods employed in the manipulation or reproduction of these features.

Experienced in evidence preparation, reporting, and court presentation techniques, he has delivered document examination evidence as an expert witness on many occasions.

A qualified trainer, he has developed and presented basic and advanced document examination training courses to many Australian Government agencies, and Government officials from numerous countries in the Asia-Pacific region. Extensively travelled, he has facilitated and regularly participates in national and international workshops on document and identity fraud.

He has mentored the development of document examination laboratories in foreign environments and has developed examination methodology adopted internationally in the examination of travel documents.

John is a member of the Australian New Zealand Forensic Science Society (ANZFSS).

For further information contact John.