Sarah Talbert is a highly experienced criminal barrister. She currently works as a Public Defender, statutorily appointed by the NSW Attorney-General to represent clients granted Legal Aid. Sarah appears in the most serious criminal matters including homicides and terrorism offences She routinely represents society's most vulnerable and disadvantaged members including juveniles and the cognitively or mentally impaired. Before becoming a Public Defender, Sarah was a barrister in private practice at Seventh Floor Garfield Barwick Chambers and held an appointment as a Crown Prosecutor.

Sarah is a member of the NSW Bar Association's Education and Criminal Law Committees which advise and assist the Bar Council in matters of law reform and public affairs. Sarah has mentored trial advocates at the Aboriginal Legal Service and Indigenous law students through the Indigenous Barristers' Trust. She has been trained as an advocacy instructor for the NSW Bar Association through the Australian Advocacy Institute and has taught advocacy at the university level.

Before she was called to the bar, Sarah was a solicitor at the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions and a commercial law firm.