At the time of his appointment to the ABC board, he had been a member of the Queensland Bar for 35 years, and a Queen's Counsel for 17 years. Prior to his appointment to the ABC Board, he was:
A Director of companies operating hotels in Queensland and New South Wales from 1960 to 1996.[1][2]
As a King's Counsel, Gallagher's experience spanned environmental, town planning, heritage, licensing, broadcasting tribunal, valuation and general commercial cases. He delivered papers at International Bar Association conferences in America, Europe and Asia.[1][2]
He was first appointed to the ABC board for a five-year term on 9 December 1999,[1][2][4] and then reappointed for a three-year term from 24 February 2005 when he was appointed deputy chairman until his term expired on 23 February 2008.[3] In 2006, he was part of that board when they controversially decided not to publish the book Jonestown: The Power and the Myth of Alan Jones, a biography of Sydney radio broadcaster Alan Jones written by ABC journalist Chris Masters.[6]
