List of Australian envoys

Australian special interests ambassadors and envoys are specially-appointed officers of Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade to represent the interests of the Commonwealth of Australia abroad on a larger scale (such as by continent) or through representing the Commonwealth's approach to various international issues. While the special interest Ambassadors-at-Large are appointed in the same manner as would a normal Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, they are not credentialed to any state and thus have no treaty-making powers. Special Envoys are typically appointed by the prime minister of Australia.

Special interests ambassadors

Ambassadors for Counter-Terrorism

#	Officeholder	Term start date	Term end date	Time in office	Notes
1	Nick Warner	20 March 2003 (2003-03-20)	14 August 2003 (2003-08-14)	147 days	[1]
2	Les Luck	14 August 2003 (2003-08-14)	20 July 2006 (2006-07-20)	2 years, 340 days	[2]
3	Mike Smith	20 July 2006 (2006-07-20)	5 September 2008 (2008-09-05)	2 years, 47 days	[3]
4	Bill Paterson	5 September 2008 (2008-09-05)	14 March 2013 (2013-03-14)	4 years, 190 days	[4]
5	Bill Fisher	14 March 2013 (2013-03-14)	18 May 2014 (2014-05-18)	1 year, 65 days	[5]
6	Miles Armitage	18 May 2014 (2014-05-18)	21 July 2016 (2016-07-21)	2 years, 64 days	[6]
7	Paul Foley	21 July 2016 (2016-07-21)	18 February 2021 (2021-02-18)	4 years, 212 days	[7]
8	Roger Noble	18 February 2021 (2021-02-18)	9 February 2023 (2023-02-09)	1 year, 356 days	[8]
9	Richard Feakes	22 May 2023 (2023-05-22)	Incumbent	2 years, 75 days	[9]

Ambassadors for the Environment

#	Officeholder	Term start date	Term end date	Time in office	Notes
1	Sir Ninian Stephen	1989 (1989)	1992 (1992)	2–3 years
2	Penelope Wensley	1992 (1992)	January 1996 (1996-01)	3–4 years
3	Howard Bamsey	January 1996 (1996-01)	September 1997 (1997-09)	1 year, 8 months	[10]
4	Meg McDonald	September 1997 (1997-09)	November 1998 (1998-11)	1 year, 2 months	[11]
5	Ralph Hillman	November 1998 (1998-11)	March 2002 (2002-03)	3 years, 4 months	[12]
6	Christopher Langman	March 2002 (2002-03)	February 2004 (2004-02)	1 year, 11 months	[13]
7	Justin Brown	October 2004 (2004-10)	January 2005 (2005-01)	3 months	[14]
8	Jan Adams	January 2005 (2005-01)	2007 (2007)	1–2 years	[15]
Role merged with the Ambassador for Climate Change
9	Peter Woolcott	November 2014 (2014-11)	29 February 2016 (2016-02-29)	1 year, 3 months	[16]
10	Patrick Suckling	29 February 2016 (2016-02-29)	18 November 2019 (2019-11-18)	3 years, 263 days	[17]
11	Jamie Isbister	18 November 2019 (2019-11-18)	Incumbent	5 years, 260 days	[18]

Ambassadors for Climate Change

#	Officeholder	Term start date	Term end date	Time in office	Notes
1	Jan Elizabeth Adams	2007 (2007)	February 2009 (2009-02)	1–2 years
2	Louise Hand	February 2009 (2009-02)	13 May 2012 (2012-05-13)	3 years, 3 months	[19]
3	Justin Lee	13 May 2012 (2012-05-13)	1 November 2014 (2014-11-01)	2 years, 172 days	[20]
Role merged with the Ambassador for the Environment
4	Kristin Tilley	9 November 2022 (2022-11-09)	Incumbent	2 years, 269 days	[21]

Ambassadors for Cyber Affairs and Critical Technology

#	Officeholder	Title	Term start date	Term end date	Time in office	Notes
1	Tobias Feakin	Ambassador for Cyber Affairs	10 November 2016 (2016-11-10)	January 2020 (2020-01)	8 years, 268 days	[22][23]
		Ambassador for Cyber Affairs and Critical Technology	January 2020 (2020-01)	Incumbent

Ambassadors for Regional Health Security

#	Officeholder	Title	Term start date	Term end date	Time in office	Notes
1	Murray Proctor	Ambassador for HIV/AIDS	December 2007 (2007-12)	May 2012 (2012-05)	4 years, 5 months	[24]
2	James Gilling	Ambassador for HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria	3 October 2012 (2012-10-03)	13 June 2017 (2017-06-13)	4 years, 253 days	[24]
3	Blair Exell	Ambassador for Regional Health Security	13 June 2017 (2017-06-13)	3 March 2020 (2020-03-03)	2 years, 264 days	[25]
4	Stephanie Williams		3 March 2020 (2020-03-03)	Incumbent	5 years, 155 days	[26]

Ambassador for People Smuggling and Human Trafficking

#	Officeholder	Title	Term start date	Term end date	Time in office	Notes
1	John Buckley	Ambassador for People Smuggling Issues	April 2002 (2002-04)	30 July 2003 (2003-07-30)	1 year, 3 months	[27]
2	Caroline Millar		30 July 2003 (2003-07-30)	19 December 2005 (2005-12-19)	2 years, 142 days	[28]
3	Lydia Morton		19 December 2005 (2005-12-19)	January 2007 (2007-01)	1 year	[29]
4	Michael Potts		January 2007 (2007-01)	June 2009 (2009-06)	2 years, 5 months	[30]
5	Peter Woolcott		June 2009 (2009-06)	February 2010 (2010-02)	8 months	[31]
6	James Larsen		February 2010 (2010-02)	27 May 2012 (2012-05-27)	2 years, 3 months	[32]
7	Craig Chittick		27 May 2012 (2012-05-27)	December 2014 (2014-12)	2 years, 188 days	[32]
8	Andrew Goledzinowski		December 2014 (2014-12)	19 October 2017 (2017-10-19)	2 years, 10 months	[33]
9	Geoffrey Shaw	Ambassador for People Smuggling and Human Trafficking	19 October 2017 (2017-10-19)	22 May 2020 (2020-05-22)	2 years, 216 days	[34]
10	Lucienne Manton		22 May 2020 (2020-05-22)	Incumbent	5 years, 75 days	[35]

Ambassadors for Gender Equality

#	Officeholder	Title	Term start date	Term end date	Time in office	Notes
1	Penny Williams	Ambassador for Women and Girls	13 September 2011 (2011-09-13)	16 December 2013 (2013-12-16)	2 years, 94 days	[36]
2	Natasha Stott Despoja		16 December 2013 (2013-12-16)	21 November 2016 (2016-11-21)	2 years, 341 days	[37]
3	Sharman Stone		21 November 2016 (2016-11-21)	8 March 2020 (2020-03-08)	3 years, 108 days	[38]
4	Julie-Ann Guivarra	Ambassador for Gender Equality	8 March 2020 (2020-03-08)	1 October 2021 (2021-10-01)	1 year, 207 days	[39]
5	Christine Clarke	Ambassador for Women and Girls	31 January 2022 (2022-01-31)	20 December 2022 (2022-12-20)	323 days	[40]
6	Stephanie Copus-Campbell	Ambassador for Gender Equality	20 December 2022 (2022-12-20)	Incumbent	2 years, 228 days	[41][42]

Ambassadors for Human Rights

#	Officeholder	Title	Term start date	Term end date	Time in office	Notes
1	Phillip Ruddock	Special Envoy for Human Rights	8 February 2016 (2016-02-08)	October 2017 (2017-10)	1 year, 7 months	[43]
Post abolished
2	Bronte Moules	Ambassador for Human Rights	TBD	Incoming		[42][44]

Special Envoys

Parliamentarians

Special Envoy for the Arts

#	Officeholder	Party		Term start date	Term end date	Time in office	Ref
1	Susan Templeman MP		Labor	1 June 2022 (2022-06-01)	Incumbent	3 years, 65 days	[45]

Special Envoy for Citizenship and Community Engagement

#	Officeholder	Party		Term start date	Term end date	Time in office	Ref
1	Philip Ruddock MP		Liberal	28 May 2015 (2015-05-28)	9 May 2016 (2016-05-09)	347 days	[46]

Special Envoy for Cyber Security and Digital Resilience

#	Officeholder	Party		Term start date	Term end date	Time in office	Ref
1	Andrew Charlton MP		Labor	29 July 2024 (2024-07-29)	Incumbent	1 year, 7 days	[47]

Special Envoy for Defence and Veterans' Affairs

#	Officeholder	Party		Title	Term start date	Term end date	Time in office	Ref
1	Luke Gosling MP		Labor	Special Envoy for Defence, Veterans' Affairs and Northern Australia	29 July 2024 (2024-07-29)	Incumbent	1 year, 7 days	[47]

Special Envoy for Disaster Recovery

#	Officeholder	Party		Term start date	Term end date	Time in office	Ref
1	Senator Tony Sheldon		Labor	24 July 2022 (2022-07-24)	Incumbent	3 years, 12 days	[48]

Special Envoy for Drought Assistance and Recovery

#	Officeholder	Party		Term start date	Term end date	Time in office	Ref
1	Barnaby Joyce MP		National	11 September 2018 (2018-09-11)	29 May 2019 (2019-05-29)	260 days	[49]

Special Envoy for the Great Barrier Reef

#	Officeholder	Party		Term start date	Term end date	Time in office	Ref
1	Warren Entsch MP		Liberal National[a]	29 May 2019 (2019-05-29)	11 April 2022 (2022-04-11)	2 years, 317 days
2	Senator Nita Green		Labor	1 June 2022 (2022-06-01)	Incumbent	3 years, 65 days	[50]

1. Entsch sat in the Liberal party room.

Special Envoy for Indigenous Affairs

#	Officeholder	Party		Title	Term start date	Term end date	Time in office	Ref
1	Tony Abbott MP		Liberal	Special Envoy for Indigenous Affairs	29 August 2018 (2018-08-29)	18 May 2019 (2019-05-18)	262 days	[51]
2	Senator Pat Dodson		Labor	Special Envoy for Reconciliation and Implementation of the Uluru Statement from the Heart	1 June 2022 (2022-06-01)	26 January 2024 (2024-01-26)	1 year, 239 days	[50]

Special Envoy for Northern Australia

#	Officeholder	Party		Title	Term start date	Term end date	Time in office	Ref
1	Senator Susan McDonald		Liberal National[a]	Special Envoy for Northern Australia	27 June 2021 (2021-06-27)	23 May 2022 (2022-05-23)	330 days	[52]
2	Luke Gosling MP		Labor	Special Envoy for Defence, Veterans' Affairs and Northern Australia	29 July 2024 (2024-07-29)	Incumbent	1 year, 7 days	[47]

1. McDonald sat in the National party room.

Special Envoy for Social Cohesion

#	Officeholder	Party		Term start date	Term end date	Time in office	Ref
1	Peter Khalil MP		Labor	29 July 2024 (2024-07-29)	Incumbent	1 year, 7 days	[47]

Special Envoy for Trade

#	Officeholder	Party		Term start date	Term end date	Time in office	Ref
1	Andrew Robb MP		Liberal	18 February 2016 (2016-02-18)	9 May 2016 (2016-05-09)	81 days	[53]

Others

Diplomatic

Special Envoy to Africa

#	Officeholder	Term start date	Term end date	Time in office	Ref
1	Malcolm Fraser	1996 (1996)	1999 (1999)	2–3 years	[54]
2	Bob McMullan	2010 (2010)	2012 (2012)	1–2 years	[55]
3	Joanna Hewitt	2012 (2012)	2012 (2012)	Un­known	[56][57]

Special Envoy for the Asia Pacific Community

#	Officeholder	Term start date	Term end date	Time in office	Ref
1	Richard Woolcott	2008	Unknown	Unknown	[58]

Special Envoy to Bhutan

#	Officeholder	Term start date	Term end date	Time in office	Ref
1	Tim Fischer	c. 2011 (2011)	Un­known	Un­known	[56][59]

Special Envoy to Central Asia

#	Officeholder	Term start date	Term end date	Time in office	Ref
1	Peter Tesch	2010 (2010)	2012 (2012)	1–2 years	[56][60]

Special Envoy to Eastern Europe, the Balkans and the Caucasus

#	Officeholder	Title	Term start date	Term end date	Time in office	Ref
1	Malcolm Fraser	Special Envoy to Yugoslavia	19 April 1999 (1999-04-19)	1999 (1999)	Un­known	[61]
2	Russell Trood	Special Envoy to Eastern Europe, the Balkans and the Caucasus	31 July 2011 (2011-07-31)	2012 (2012)	0–1 years	[62]
3	Angus Houston	Special Envoy to Ukraine	21 July 2014 (2014-07-21)	2014 (2014)	Un­known	[63][64]

Special Envoy to Eritrea, Rwanda and South Sudan

#	Officeholder	Term start date	Term end date	Time in office	Ref
1	Tim Fischer	c. 2011 (2011)	Un­known	Un­known	[56][59]

Special Envoy to Francophone countries and La Francophonie

#	Officeholder	Term start date	Term end date	Time in office	Ref
1	Bill Fisher	2010 (2010)	2013 (2013)	2–3 years	[55][56]

Special Envoy to Latin America and the Caribbean

#	Officeholder	Term start date	Term end date	Time in office	Ref
1	John McCarthy	c. 2011 (2011)	2012 (2012)	Un­known	[56][65]

Special Envoy to Lusophone countries

#	Officeholder	Term start date	Term end date	Time in office	Ref
1	Neil Mules	c. 2011 (2011)	2012 (2012)	Un­known	[56]

Special Envoy to the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation

#	Officeholder	Term start date	Term end date	Time in office	Ref
1	Ahmed Fahour	29 June 2011 (2011-06-29)	Un­known	Un­known	[66][67]

Special Envoy for the Pacific and Regional Affairs

#	Officeholder	Term start date	Term end date	Time in office	Ref
1	Ewen McDonald	3 July 2023 (2023-07-03)	Incumbent	2 years, 33 days	[68]

Special Envoy for Southeast Asia

#	Officeholder	Term start date	Term end date	Time in office	Ref
1	Nicholas Moore	12 November 2022 (2022-11-12)	Incumbent	2 years, 266 days	[69]

Special Envoy to Sri Lanka

#	Officeholder	Term start date	Term end date	Time in office	Ref
1	John McCarthy	2 November 2009 (2009-11-02)	Un­known	Un­known	[70]

Issues

Special Envoy to Combat Antisemitism

#	Officeholder	Term start date	Term end date	Time in office	Ref
1	Jillian Segal	9 July 2024 (2024-07-09)	Incumbent	1 year, 27 days	[71]

Special Envoy to Combat Islamophobia

#	Officeholder	Term start date	Term end date	Time in office	Ref
1	Aftab Malik	14 October 2024 (2024-10-14)	Incumbent	295 days	[72]

Special Envoy for the Kokoda Track

#	Officeholder	Term start date	Term end date	Time in office	Ref
1	Sandy Hollway	2008 (2008)	Unknown	Unknown	[73]

Special Envoy for Operation Sovereign Borders

#	Officeholder	Term start date	Term end date	Time in office	Ref
1	Jim Molan	27 September 2013 (2013-09-27)	15 August 2014 (2014-08-15)	322 days	[74]

Special Envoy on Whale Conservation

#	Officeholder	Term start date	Term end date	Time in office	Ref
1	Sandy Hollway	2008 (2008)	2009 (2009)	0–1 years	[75][76]

See also

• Foreign relations of Australia