Commissioner Brereton was educated at the University of Sydney, graduating with
a Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Laws and serving two terms as President of the
Students Representative Council.

He was admitted as a solicitor in New South Wales in 1982, called to the Bar in 1987
and appointed Senior Counsel in 1998. At the Bar, he had a diverse general practice. In
2005, he was appointed a Judge of the Supreme Court of New South Wales, where he
was assigned primarily to the Equity Division, and was the Corporations List Judge and
Adoptions List Judge. On 23 August 2018 he was appointed a Judge of Appeal.

From 2013 he was a member and from 2019 Deputy President of the Defence Force
Discipline Appeal Tribunal. He was appointed a part-time Commissioner of the NSW Law
Reform Commission on 1 June 2016 and Deputy Chairperson on 1 July 2016.

He retired from his judicial appointments on 31 May 2023, in order to assume
the appointment of inaugural Commissioner of the new National Anti-Corruption
Commission from 1 July 2023.

He is one of the four authors of the current (tenth, 2019) edition of Nygh’s Conflict of
Laws in Australia.

His service in the Army Reserve commenced in the Sydney University Regiment in 1975
and culminated in his appointment as Head of Reserves & Cadets with the rank of Major
General (2011—2013). He was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia in the Military
Division in 2010 for exceptional service as Chief of Staff 5th Brigade, Assistant Chief of
Staff Land Headquarters and Commander 5th Brigade. As an Assistant Inspector-General
of the Australian Defence Force he conducted an inquiry into alleged war crimes in
Afghanistan. He currently holds honorary appointments as Colonel Commandant of the
Royal New South Wales Regiment and the University of New South Wales Regiment.