Sarah Ross-Smith

Career

Sarah acts for Commonwealth Government departments and agencies on procurement, contracting and governance matters. Her client base is primarily the Commonwealth and Commonwealth entities, with a particular focus on defence procurement and capital equipment acquisition.

Sarah advises on procurement activities for aviation, land vehicle and maritime assets, governance matters for statutory corporations, contract negotiations, competitive tendering processes and privatisations. She leads contract negotiations for Commonwealth clients, drawing on her deep understanding of the legislative and regulatory requirements Commonwealth entities must satisfy. Her practice also spans intellectual property aspects of government procurement and contracting.

Sarah has 30 years of experience advising the Australian Government and has acted in some of Australia’s largest and most complex capital equipment acquisition procurements. She was named in Australasian Lawyer’s inaugural Elite Women list of 50 women in 2021.

Sarah's combination of procurement, defence, IP and governance expertise across the full lifecycle of major Commonwealth acquisitions positions her as one of Australia’s most experienced advisers to the Commonwealth on capital equipment and defence contracting.