Sally Dowling

Dowling is one of three children; her mother, Stephanie Claire, worked as an English teacher and writer, and later married artist Salvatore Zofrea.[1] Dowling attended North Sydney Girls High School but left in Year 11.[2] She worked as a waitress and a bookie's clerk before later completing her HSC at TAFE.[2][3] She graduated from the University of Sydney in 1994.[4]

Dowling was admitted as a legal practitioner in 1995.[5] She worked as an associate to Justice Hill in the Federal Court before practicing intellectual property and trade practices law as a solicitor.[4] She was admitted as a barrister in 1997 and worked in private practice in commercial and intellectual property.[4]

Dowling started work at the DPP in 2001[4] and became a Crown prosecutor since 2005.[5] In 2004, when her children were very young, Dowling was the only part-time trial crown prosecutor in NSW, working one week on, one week off.[4] She acknowledged that it was very difficult to work part-time as a barrister and still earn enough to cover expenses, but said that working part-time "promotes efficiency."[6]

In 2013, Dowling was appointed Senior Counsel and in 2016 she was appointed Deputy Senior Crown Prosecutor and head of the Appeals unit within the NSW office of the DPP.[5][2] In 2019, she was Senior Counsel assisting the NSW Government's Special Commission of Inquiry into the Drug ‘Ice’.[5] In 2020, she became a barrister in private practice at Wardell Chambers.[5]

Dowling was appointed to a ten year term as Director of Public Prosecutions in August 2021.[5] She is the first woman to hold the role.[7]

Dowling has two children.[4]

In 2018, Salvatore Zofrea's portrait of Dowling was a finalist in the Archibald Prize.[8][9]