[3][1][4] He completed his secondary education (Leaving Certificate) at Newcastle Boys High School and matriculated to the University of Sydney.
[1] He served as a councillor of Wesley College at the University of Sydney between 1970 and 1977 where he had been elected senior student in his penultimate undergraduate year.
[4][5] Barrett was appointed as a part-time member of the Companies and Securities Law Review Committee between 1983 and 1987.
[1] In May 1995 Barrett became a partner at Mallesons Stephen Jaques where he practised until his commission as a judge of the Supreme Court of New South Wales in 2001.
[1] As a corporate and securities law specialist he was involved in several important and complex Australian corporate cases: the 1995 Westpac Challenge Bank merger, the NRMA insurance demutualisation, Comalco's takeover of Rio Tinto and the Australian Stock Exchange demutualisation and self-listing which was a world first.
[4] Barrett has been a member of the editorial board of the Company & Securities Law Journal since it began publication in 1982.