Appointment of Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions

28/06/2017 6:30 AM

• Carmel Barbagallo SC has been appointed WA's Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions 

The McGowan Government has appointed Carmel Barbagallo SC as Western Australia's Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions.

It follows the appointment of Amanda Forrester SC to the role of Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), WA's first female DPP, in April this year.

Ms Barbagallo was admitted into practice in 1991 after completion of articles of clerkship at MacDonnells, Barristers and Solicitors in Queensland.

Ms Barbagallo worked as a solicitor in general practice until 1995 when she commenced at the DPP in Queensland in the criminal prosecutions area.

From May 1996 to December 2000 she was a Crown Prosecutor at the DPP in Queensland and then a State Prosecutor at the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions Western Australia (ODPP WA) from 2001 to 2005.

While at ODPP WA, Ms Barbagallo was Senior State Prosecutor from October 2005 until January 2008 and Crown Prosecutor from January 2008 to October 2010.

She has been Consultant State Prosecutor at ODPP WA since November 2010.

Ms Barbagallo's appointment is for a term of five years.

Comments attributed to Attorney General John Quigley:

"Ms Barbagallo has more than two decades of experience in a variety of criminal prosecutions in the Supreme and District Courts both in Western Australia and interstate.

"Through the course of her legal career, she has case managed a variety of criminal prosecutions from the least serious to the most serious.

"Ms Barbagallo was appointed Senior Counsel in December 2016.

"Ms Barbagallo is a voluntary mentor in the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions' mentoring program and has compiled and presented training packages to WA Police to assist its officer training.

"In her current role as Consultant State Prosecutor at the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, Ms Barbagallo is responsible for the case management and prosecution of the most complex criminal prosecutions in Western Australia.

"She is leading the prosecution team in the criminal trial of the alleged Claremont serial killer.

"Ms Barbagallo has been the Chair of the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions WA's Training and Professional and Development Committee since 2015, and she is a member of the Professional Development Committee of the Legal Practice Board of WA."