A New South Wales parliamentary committee has found that the state's top prosecutor, Sally Dowling, gave false evidence under oath to an inquiry regarding a media leak about a young Indigenous offender. The committee recommended that Attorney General Michael Daley consider whether there are grounds to remove her from office.
Inquiry findings and political fallout
The upper house inquiry voted 4-3 to find that Dowling authorised pitching a story to radio station 2GB about a sentencing hearing involving a young person, and "falsely denied having done so in her evidence to the committee." The report, released on Tuesday, stated there was "no genuine public interest" in the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) "proactively and surreptitiously" pitching the story, which risked identifying the child and would "most likely constitute a breach of the prosecution guidelines."
However, Attorney General Michael Daley called the report a "stitch-up from the outset" and described it as "the worst … that I have seen in my nearly 21 years in parliament." He said he has full confidence in Dowling and will instruct the Crown Solicitor's Office to brief senior counsel to review the report.
Details of the media leak incident
The inquiry, originally set up to examine protections against identifying children in court proceedings, focused on an October 2024 incident where Dowling's department shared details to 2GB about the sentencing hearing of an Indigenous child. The child, incorrectly described as having performed a "welcome" to country, was not named on air. A police investigation into whether the child had been illegally identified ended with no charges being laid.
District Court Judge Penelope Wass, who had allowed the child to perform an acknowledgment of country before sentencing, wrote a 68-page submission alleging Dowling organised the leak, claiming it was "designed to embarrass and defame me and to undermine the independence of a district court judge with whom the ODPP has had issue."
Dowling's defense and conflicting evidence
Dowling admitted her office pitched the story but strongly rejected authorising it. When she first appeared before the inquiry, she said she only learned her office was the source two days before her December 2025 appearance, alleging Wass had a "personal grievance" and accusing the inquiry of a "gross denial of procedural fairness."
The inquiry heard evidence from ODPP media manager Sally Killoran, who said in a meeting with Dowling and an external media adviser the day before the story aired, she discussed pitching the story to the Daily Telegraph. The external adviser suggested 2GB "would be more interested." Killoran stated, "No one objected to this suggestion and, therefore, at the time, I believed I had approval to pitch the story to the radio station." Dowling later told the inquiry she did not dispute Killoran's "mistaken understanding" but did not authorise the pitch, claiming she was reading emails about other matters during the meeting.
Support for Dowling and dissenting views
Before the report's release, all of Dowling's commonwealth, state, and territory counterparts wrote to Daley supporting her, stating she "is a person of integrity who, in our dealings, has always conducted herself in an exemplary and ethical manner."
Committee deputy chair, Greens MLC Sue Higginson, issued a dissenting statement calling the findings "unfounded and biased … both irresponsible and incredible." She noted that after a court decision, parliamentary committees lost the power to compel witnesses, which had "a negative impact on the veracity with which this inquiry can make findings."
The inquiry recommended the government expand the definition of information that can lead to identification of children in court proceedings. In response, an ODPP spokesperson said they "value the attorney general's support and full confidence" and that "the ODPP acts with integrity and independence. That is not going to change."
