ABOUT THE FIRM
An expert you brief needs to do one thing well, hold up under scrutiny.
Dolman Bateman Forensic has been doing exactly that since 1979. More than four decades focused exclusively on forensic accounting, investigations, expert reports, and valuation evidence for matters that end up in front of a court.
The firm was founded when forensic accounting was still finding its footing as a discipline in Australia. In 1987, Fiona and Warwick created the firm's dedicated forensic accounting team, and from that point the focus was entirely on financial investigations, expert reports, and valuation evidence for the courts.
​
More than four decades on, that singular focus remains the core of everything the firm does. Over 3,000 expert reports. More than 150 law firms served. And a standard of independence that hasn't changed since the day the practice opened.
21 Hill Street Roseville NSW 2069
(Roseville Office)
OUR FOUNDERS
Founded by Fiona Bateman and Warwick Dolman.
Fiona Bateman and Warwick Dolman started the firm together in 1979, at a time when forensic accounting as a recognised discipline barely existed in Australia. They saw that the legal profession needed something general accounting firms were structurally unable to provide: a practice whose only obligation was to the truth, not to a long-standing commercial relationship.
BUILT FOR LEGAL CONTEXT
Every engagement is built for the room it will end up in.
We work closely with solicitors, barristers, and courts across Australia. From the first phone call, every engagement is approached with a clear picture of where the evidence will be used, and how it will be tested.
Reports are written with cross-examination in mind. Opinions are formed to be defensible, not just persuasive. The reasoning is transparent because, in this work, it has to be.
WHAT WE BELIEVE
Four principles, applied to every engagement we take on.
01 - INDEPENDENCE
​
Duty to the court, not the brief.
​
Every expert report we sign is independent of the party that retained us. If our opinion changes during the work, we update the file, and tell our instructing solicitor.
02 - PLAIN ENGLISH
​
Written for the reader, not the writer.
​
Technical accuracy and plain language aren't a trade-off. Reports go to a senior reviewer who's allowed to ask "why does the reader care?" of every paragraph.
03 - METHODOLOGY ON RECORD
​
Every assumption visible.
​
Workings are annexed. Sources are cited. If you can't trace a number in our report back to a primary document, we haven't done our job.
04 - PROPORTIONATE SCOPE
​
Right size for the question.
​
A $50k dispute doesn't need a $200k report. We scope to the question being asked, and we tell you up-front when a quicker piece of analysis will serve.
STANDARDS WE WORK TO
Our reports comply with the codes that govern expert evidence in Australia.
Harmonised Expert Witness Code of Conduct
​
Adopted by superior courts across Australian jurisdictions, including the Federal Court and the Supreme Courts of NSW, Vic, Qld, WA, SA, and Tas.
UCPR Schedule 7 (NSW)
​
All reports prepared for NSW Supreme Court matters comply with the form and content requirements of UCPR Schedule 7.
Federal Court Practice Note GPN-EXPT
​
Where matters are brought in the Federal Court, our reports are prepared in accordance with the Expert Evidence Practice Note.
APES 215 · Forensic accounting services
​
Engagements are conducted in accordance with APES 215, the professional standard governing forensic accounting services in Australia.
APES 110 · Code of ethics
​
Independence, objectivity, and competence requirements applicable to professional accountants in Australia.
APES 225 · Valuation services
​
All business and equity valuations are prepared in accordance with APES 225 and identify the level of valuation engagement.
FOUR DECADES ON
The standard hasn't changed.
Expert evidence should assist the court, not complicate it. That's been the firm's guiding principle since 1979, and four decades on it hasn't moved. Neither has the standard we hold our own reports to.
REFERENCED & QUOTED
Our work, in the wider conversation.
DIVORCE COACHING AUSTRALIA - INTERVIEW
​
Forensic accounting in family law
An interview on the role forensic accountants play in separating couples' financial affairs, tracing assets and valuing interest in a property settlement.
​
​
THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD - BUSINESS
​
Are you being served?
A Sydney Morning Herald feature on financial disputes and the forensic accounting work that underpins how losses are quantified and tested.
​
​
AUSTRALIAN FINANCIAL REVIEW - COMPANIES
​
To catch a thief?
An Australian Financial Review piece on fraud investigation, how misconduct is uncovered in the books and the recovery work that follows.
​
​
HUMAN RESOURCES DIRECTOR - NEWS
​
Directors carry the fraud can
Commentary on directors' exposure to fraud within their organisations and the governance and internal-control questions it raises.
​
​
MEMBERSHIPS
Our current memberships:
-
Chartered Accountants Australia & New Zealand
-
Forensic Accountants Special Interest Group
-
Business Valuation Special Interest Group
-
Australian Valuers Institute
-
Australian Association of Collaborative Professionals
-
Tax Practitioners Board, Registered Tax Agent