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Legal heavyweights across the country have backed the state’s top prosecutor in a joint letter circulated before a NSW upper house inquiry into her office releases its final report.
Sally Dowling, SC, has been at the centre of a longstanding controversy over the circumstances in which her office gave a story about a sitting judge to a media outlet in 2024.
The top prosecutor has denied she authorised the information being provided to Sydney radio station 2GB. A parliamentary inquiry is set to release a report on the incident later on Tuesday.
In a letter to NSW Attorney-General Michael Daley dated June 30, Dowling’s Commonwealth, state and territory counterparts said she was a “person of integrity who, in our dealings, has always conducted herself in an exemplary and ethical manner”.
“We are broadly aware of the issues behind the questions asked of Ms Dowling and the allegations that have been made. Our opinion remains unaltered,” the directors of public prosecutions wrote.
“The independent role of the Director of Public Prosecutions is a difficult and important one. Holding similar office to Ms Dowling SC makes us acutely aware of the position she finds herself in and the need for our collective support.”
Daley said earlier this year he would not pre-empt the committee’s findings, but Dowling had his “unequivocal support”.
“She’s been unfairly maligned by a parliamentary committee that’s on foot at the moment that I have a great many questions about,” Daley said at a press conference in Sydney.
During her evidence before the upper house justice and communities committee last year, Dowling admitted her office effectively gave a story about District Court Judge Penelope Wass to 2GB in October 2024.
Rift over sexual assault cases
The story was aired amid an apparent rift between the ODPP and some District Court judges, including Wass, over sexual assault prosecutions.
Dowling vehemently denied she authorised the ODPP’s media manager providing the information to 2GB, and said she only became aware that her office was the source of the story days before the parliamentary hearing in December 2025.
The inquiry
The inquiry was ostensibly set up to examine statutory identity protections for children in criminal proceedings, but it focused almost exclusively in its hearings on Dowling and Wass.
There was no hint in its name or general terms of reference to suggest it had an unrelated purpose, leading some observers, including prominent Sydney silk Geoffrey Watson, SC, to label it a “hatchet job”.
Judge’s explosive submission
In an explosive 68-page submission to the inquiry, quietly published on the NSW parliamentary website the night before Dowling was due to give evidence and reported on the front page of The Australian that morning, Wass accused the ODPP of giving the information to 2GB to “embarrass and defame her”.
Wass alleged that it “forms part of a deliberate strategy by some of those within the ODPP, including Ms Dowling” to attack her personally or to influence her judicial conduct, or both.
The judge said the committee might consider referring senior ODPP officers to the governor “for removal from office”.
‘Ambush’ by committee
The ODPP said in a later submission that it was “difficult to avoid the inference that the committee intended to ambush [Dowling] with the judge’s submission at the inquiry hearing”.
The 2GB story concerned Wass’ invitation to an Indigenous youth she was sentencing for an aggravated break and enter involving the sexual touching of an elderly woman.
Wass invited him to give what she called a “Welcome to Country”. Rather than a welcome, which was not culturally appropriate, he delivered a short acknowledgement of the “traditional owners and custodians of this land” via video link.
Ben Fordham, host of 2GB’s breakfast program, described the “welcome” on air on October 25, 2024, as a “local scandal”.
The parliamentary inquiry heard Dowling was present at an internal meeting with the ODPP media manager and an external media consultant a day before the 2GB story aired.
Dowling told the committee she did not dispute that her media manager “had a mistaken understanding” after the meeting that she was authorised to raise the story with 2GB. But she said she “did not, and would not have, approved this occurring”.
The 2GB story followed a wave of negative publicity for the ODPP.
Some District Court judges, including Wass, had delivered decisions criticising the office’s handling of sexual assault cases, prompting The Australian to report on an alleged “#MeToo overkill”. The judges had expressed the view the ODPP was running unmeritorious prosecutions.
Dowling lodged complaints with the Judicial Commission about two decisions, by judges Peter Whitford and Robert Newlinds. The watchdog said in 2024 that their comments were inappropriate and had no evidentiary foundation. Both judges apologised.
The only connection between Wass, Dowling and identity protections for children is that the ODPP gave 2GB the name of the Indigenous offender who was invited to perform the “welcome” to confirm the story.
However, in line with a statutory prohibition on publishing or broadcasting information to the public that identifies children in criminal proceedings, he was not named on air by 2GB.
Wass said in her submission that she contacted the police after the 2GB broadcast because she was concerned this prohibition may have been breached.
However, she also said that “on the scant information currently known, the ODPP is correct to contend that no breach of that provision has occurred”.
Police concluded their investigation early last year. No charges were laid.
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