A New South Wales Judge has sensationally called for a review of the employment of the Director of the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) after identifying information about a 17-year-old Indigenous boy was provided to media outlets.

In October 2024, the teenager — who was before the court on serious charges and used the pseudonym DR — was permitted by Judge Penelope Wass to perform a Welcome to Country as part of his evidence, with approval from both defence and prosecution.

Later that month, she became the subject of commentary on 2GB programs hosted by Ray Hadley and Ben Fordham after a screenshot containing sensitive details, including the boy's name, was supplied to the media by an ODPP media officer.

The commentators labelled it a "local scandal," prompting further coverage on Sky News and in the Daily Mail — both of which have regularly devoted segments and articles criticising Indigenous practices such as Welcome's to, and Acknowledgement's of, Country.

"I received derogatory public statements and threats from consumers of the 2GB story almost immediately after it was aired," Judge Wass said.

"I was called 'woke' and 'out of touch' and called on to be 'disbarred'. The public called for my sacking and accused me of being drug affected.

"Comments on social media were also inflammatory. As an example of the level of hate speech that ensued at the time, in a post on Reddit that included a photograph of me, I was called upon to be imprisoned and in one instance to hang myself."

DR — who Judge Wass sentenced to the maximum penalty under the relevant legislation for his crime — was told if he were in trouble with the police in the future, he would not be invited to perform the welcome again.

Allegations of wrongdoing

In a submission to a NSW parliamentary inquiry into privacy protections for children in the youth justice system, Judge Wass alleged the Director of the ODPP, Sally Dowling SC, directed the media officer to release the information.

Judge Wass alleged Shadow Attorney-General Alister Henskens SC MP had told her "someone within the ODPP had disclosed confidential information to 2GB about the matter orally and in a document that disclosed some details of the case, including DR's name".

"Mr Fordham and Mr Hadley broadcast the 2GB story, armed with information on DR and the case, provided by the ODPP, including, but not limited to, information contained in an internal ODPP document stating DR's name," the submission said.

"It was not an accidental disclosure. The information was provided deliberately, reckless as to the identification of DR, and in breach of ODPP guidelines on dealing with the media."

The allegations have been strenuously denied by Ms Dowling.

Judge Wass said the "Committee may also consider whether it is appropriate to refer the Senior Officers [of the ODPP] for removal from office for incompetence or misbehaviour".

Although 2GB, Sky News and the Daily Mail did not publish DR's name, Judge Wass noted whilst DR was not named in any media publication, "the 2GB story included information that could lead to the identification of DR, particularly in the small rural community of Taree".

A police investigation was conducted, but no charges were laid.

Appearing before the inquiry last week, Ms Dowling said the line of questioning — which examined how the leak occurred and whether it came from senior ODPP figures — was "not an appropriate use of this committee's function". She described not being provided with the submission as a "gross denial of procedural fairness" and "disgraceful".

She said she only learned after the broadcast that the manager had provided a screenshot of "the ODPP case management system to someone associated with 2GB".

"That screenshot contained details of the case, including the young person's name," she said. "At no time did I direct, or ask, that the media manager provide the story to 2GB," she said.

Furthermore, she noted the absence of charges and said the staff member involved had been "counselled".

Changes needed to protect vulnerable children

Greens spokesperson for Justice, Sue Higginson — who chairs the inquiry — said the unauthorised disclosure is "incredibly confronting and indicates a problem that needs to be fixed".

"Despite laws preventing children from being identified, the public is routinely being made aware of circumstances that can be pieced together to identify a child inadvertently," she said.

"This is referred to as 'jigsaw identification' and it particularly happens in regional areas with close-knit communities who have intimate knowledge of a child's circumstances. It's clear we need stronger protections in law to make absolutely clear to police and prosecutors that this trend is unacceptable."

In its submission, the Aboriginal Legal Service (ALS) NSW/ACT said 'jigsaw identification' "particularly impacts Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people who are over-represented in the criminal justice system".

The ALS argued under the Children (Criminal Proceedings) Act 1987 (CCPA), "it is possible for children involved in criminal proceedings to be identified by piecing together information published by different sources, whilst those publications individually would not be prohibited under the CCPA".

It suggested the legislation be strengthened, noting rather than prohibiting only a child's name, the CCPA should instead ban publication of any "information tending to identify" a child.

Ms Higginson said when police and prosecutors are bringing charges against children — many of them Indigenous — "we must remember that the aim of our criminal justice system should be to rehabilitate and divert children exhibiting offensive behaviour".

"Instead, we often see police and prosecutors failing to truly consider the potential for the information they disclose to identify children and young people, we have even seen police posting mugshots of children on Facebook," she said.

"This cavalier attitude and conduct undermines our criminal justice system and we need to put an end to it."