List of ambassadors of Australia to the Holy See

The Ambassador of Australia to the Holy See is an officer of the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the head of the Embassy of the Commonwealth of Australia to the Holy See. The first nominee for this position was Dudley McCarthy, appointed in 1973,^[1][2] who was also the ambassador to Spain, but the Vatican refused to accept the nomination on the grounds that McCarthy had been divorced.^[3] The appointment was subsequently attached to the office of the Ambassador to the Netherlands, Denmark, Turkey, Ireland, Malta, Sweden and Switzerland. In 2008 Tim Fischer was appointed as the first permanent resident ambassador to the Holy See.^[1] In 1986, Sir Peter Lawler had been appointed resident ambassador for four months prior to Pope John Paul II's visit to Australia.^[4] Keith Pitt is the current ambassador, having presented his credentials on 3 June 2025.^[5]

Ambassador of Australia to the Holy See
Incumbent Keith Pitt since 3 June 2025
Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
Style	His Excellency
Reports to	Minister for Foreign Affairs
Residence	Vatican City
Nominator	Prime Minister of Australia
Appointer	Governor General of Australia
Inaugural holder	Lloyd Thomson
Formation	1973

List of heads of mission

Ordinal	Officeholder	Title	Residency	Term start date	Term end date	Time in office	Notes
1	Lloyd Thomson LVO	Ambassador of Australia to the Holy See	The Hague, Netherlands	1973 (1973)	1974 (1974)	0–1 years	[6]
2	John McMillan		Turkey	1974 (1974)	1978 (1978)	3–4 years	[7]
(n/a)	John Mitchell Kirtley	Chargé d'affaires		1978 (1978)	1979 (1979)	0–1 years
3	Brian Clarence Hill	Ambassador of Australia to the Holy See	Sweden	1979 (1979)	1980 (1980)	0–1 years
(1)	Lloyd Thomson		Dublin, Ireland[a]	1980 (1980)	1983 (1983)	2–3 years	[8]
4	Sir Peter Lawler OBE			1983 (1983)	1986 (1986)	2–3 years	[4]
(n/a)	Christopher Stephen Knott	Chargé d'affaires		1986 (1986)	1987 (1987)	0–1 years
5	Frank Milne	Ambassador of Australia to the Holy See		1987 (1987)	1988 (1988)	0–1 years	[9]
6	Brian Burke AO[b]		Dublin, Ireland	5 June 1988 (1988-06-05)	31 July 1991 (1991-07-31)	3 years, 56 days	[12]
7	Terence McCarthy			1991 (1991)	1993 (1993)	1–2 years	[13]
8	Michael Tate		The Hague, Netherlands	1993 (1993)	1996 (1996)	2–3 years
9	Edward Stevens		Dublin, Ireland	1996 (1996)	1998 (1998)	1–2 years	[14]
10	Bob Halverson OBE			1998 (1998)	2003 (2003)	4–5 years
11	John Herron			2003 (2003)	2006 (2006)	2–3 years
12	Anne Plunkett			2006 (2006)	2008 (2008)	1–2 years
13	Tim Fischer AC		Vatican City	2008 (2008)	2012 (2012)	3–4 years	[1]
14	John McCarthy , QC			August 2012 (2012-08)	29 January 2016 (2016-01-29)	3 years, 5 months	[1][15]
15	Melissa Hitchman			2016 (2016)	2020 (2020)	3–4 years	[16][17]
16	Chiara Porro			27 August 2020 (2020-08-27)	29 November 2024 (2024-11-29)	4 years, 94 days	[18][19][20]
(n/a)	Marcus Wu	Chargé d'affaires		29 November 2024 (2024-11-29)	3 June 2025 (2025-06-03)	186 days
17	Keith Pitt	Ambassador of Australia to the Holy See		3 June 2025 (2025-06-03)	incumbent	55 days	[21]

Notes

1. Lawler was resident ambassador in the Vatican City for four months prior to Pope John Paul II's visit to Australia.
2. In April 1991, it was announced that Burke had resigned from his post with effect from July 1991 in order to face a royal commission^[10][11] and was eventually jailed. Burke was asked to hand back his appointment as an Officer of the Order of Australia.