As an author, TV producer and journalist, she has covered some of the nation's most haunting criminal cases.
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And Charles Sturt University Bathurst graduate Justine Ford says the motivation behind her work is simple: she wants answers for the families of those no longer able to speak for themselves.
Her first foray into crime was as a reporter on the top-rating TV series Australia's Most Wanted. Justine has since covered the Melbourne gangland wars and scores of chilling homicides and missing persons cases.
In that time she has won the trust of many families who are victims of crime, and developed deep access to police all over Australia, enabling her to bring crucial case information to her reporting.
Her rapport with police is undeniable: they trust her to tell the stories which need to be told.
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She has just released her fifth book, Lost Boys, Gone Girls, the story of 13 men and women whose luck simply ran out in the most mysterious of circumstances. It's described as a journalistic deep-dive into Australia's dark heart where never-before-published information is revealed.
The book follows on from her earlier works, Missing You, One Piece Of The Puzzle and Unsolved Australia and The Good Cop: The True Story of Ron Iddles, Australia's Greatest Detective.
The latter was recently made into a Foxtel docuseries which won the Silver Logie for Most Outstanding Factual or Documentary Program this week.
Reflecting on her career, Justine said she always had an interest in crime.
After finishing school at James Sheahan in Orange, she went on to study journalism at CSU in Bathurst.
She worked as a regional reporter for WIN News for a spell before joining Australia's Most Wanted, where she said she saw how the media could be used for good.
"It was here it became apparent to me how the police use the media as an investigative tool," she said.
She said her work with Australia's Most Wanted really shaped her career.
She worked on Today Tonight, Border Security and The Missing Persons Unit before publishing her first book, Missing You, which featured the case of Bathurst teenager Jessica Small - whose abduction, Justine says, still haunts her.
Of all the aspects of her career, she said she finds publishing the most enjoyable.
"Writing books, I have the time and space to do the research. I can spend time with the families and craft something I really believe will help," she said.
"That's a luxury you don't have on television a lot of the time."
She said she also loves being able to put cold cases back in the spotlight.
"Every [missing person's] story is important.
"There are so many families around Australia who have lost someone they love, and they need to know what happened, and where they are now."
She said the families of missing persons are very receptive to having someone come and help them tell their story.
"A lot feel they have been forgotten, or simply relegated to a paragraph in a newspaper."
Sadly, there's no shortage of matters across the country for Justine to include in her work, and she said she wishes she could cover every case.
"It is always difficult to make the decision about which cases to include in the next book."
In deciding the cases, Justine works with police across Australia, as well as families who approach her.
"It's such a real privilege. They [the families] let me into their life and share their story," she said.
She said she hopes what she writes will make a difference for them in finding out the truth.
"The ultimate goal and the absolute reason I work in this area is the hope that what I write may entice someone to come forward.
"If I can encourage people to come forward, that's my job done.
"It may be only the smallest piece of information.
"Police don't mind how insignificant it may seem, they just want the chance to investigate it."
Lost Boys, Gone Girls is available now online and in bookshops and department stores across the country.
