Gangemi, Melissa
Senior Executive Lawyer
Melissa is part of the AGS Dispute Resolution practice area in the Administrative Law team. She became a Senior Executive Lawyer in 2022.
Melissa is one of AGS’s most experienced privacy lawyers, with particular expertise conducting complex privacy impact assessments (PIAs). This includes for:
- IT projects such as myGov and other online portals for a range of agencies
- projects involving data-matching, automated decision-making and artificial intelligence
- policy projects such as the implementation of the Beneficial Ownership Policy for Treasury
- draft legislation including the Aged Care Act 2024 (Cth) and amendments to the Student Identifiers Act 2014 (Cth).
She regularly advises key government clients on administrative law matters, including the interpretation of the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and the Australian Privacy Principles. Melissa has strong experience responding to privacy complaints and data breaches, and conducting FOI and privacy litigation on behalf of agencies and the Australian Information Commissioner. Additionally, she delivers regular training to agencies on topics including privacy, FOI and records management.
Melissa has received several AGS Australia Day awards. In 2015 she was recognised for her involvement in Federal Court litigation commenced by the Essendon Football Club and a former coach in which she acted on behalf of the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority. In 2011 Melissa was recognised for her service to the Australian Building and Construction Commission in a long-running and high-profile litigation matter.