Victoria Engel SC is the new ACT Director of Public Prosecutions and will begin the role in May.

She succeeds Shane Drumgold SC, who resigned after the outcome of the Sofronoff Inquiry into the handling of the abandoned prosecution of Bruce Lehrmann.

Ms Engel is Senior Counsel at the Northern Territory Bar before which she was Deputy Director of the NT Director of Public Prosecutions.

Ms Engel started her legal career with the NSW Legal Aid Commission as a Law Clerk before joining the Office of Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) NSW in 2007. During her time at ODPP NSW, Ms Engel progressed her career as a Crown Prosecutor and appeared in more than 40 complex trials.

From 2011 to 2012, Ms Engel spent 18 months working in the United Kingdom as both a Senior Solicitor with Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs, and a Prosecutor with the National Probation Trust.

Ms Engel joined the Northern Territory office of Director of Public Prosecutions in 2020 as the Principal Crown Prosecutor where she focused on trial and appeal work in the Supreme and Appeal courts. In this role, Ms Engel led substantial changes in the management of sexual assault cases.

“I’m looking forward to getting on with the job of serving the ACT community, and working with the talented staff of the DPP, ACT Policing and other stakeholders to do so,” she said.

“An important part of my work as a prosecutor has been working closely with police, independent bodies and other agencies to ensure the criminal justice system is as effective possible for everyone involved in our processes.

“I will bring that same commitment to Canberra and focus on building strong connections so we deliver the best system we can for our local community.”