List of high commissioners of Australia to Brunei

The high commissioner of Australia to Brunei is an officer of the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the head of the High Commission of the Commonwealth of Australia in Brunei. The position has the rank and status of an ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary and is currently held by Luke Arnold since January 2022. There has been a resident Australian high commissioner in Brunei since March 1983.^[1]

High Commissioner of Australia to Brunei Darussalam
Incumbent Michael Hoy since 23 December 2024
Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
Style	His Excellency
Reports to	Minister for Foreign Affairs
Residence	Bandar Seri Begawan
Nominator	Prime Minister of Australia
Appointer	Governor General of Australia
Inaugural holder	Graham Feakes (Commissioner)
Formation	30 July 1979
Website	Australian High Commission, Brunei Darussalam

Posting history

The reporting responsibility for the British Protectorate of Brunei was originally held by the Australian office in Singapore, with a "Commissioner for Malaya and South-East Asia" appointed in 1946. On 7 April 1956, Ralph Harry took up his appointment in Singapore as the Australian Commissioner for Singapore, Brunei, Sarawak, and North Borneo.^[2][3] With the formation of the Federation of Malaysia on 16 September 1963, the Australian Commission in Singapore became a subordinate Deputy High Commission to the new High Commission in Kuala Lumpur, and responsibility for Brunei, which remained a British protectorate outside of Malaysia, was transferred to the high commission.^[4]

On 30 July 1979, the Australian high commissioner to Malaysia in Kuala Lumpur, was appointed as the non-resident Commissioner to Brunei, with a stated purpose to "facilitate contacts and closer cooperation with the Government of Brunei during the period leading up to Brunei's full independence in 1983".^[5] A resident Australian Commission in Brunei was established in March 1983 headed by John Monfries, in anticipation of Brunei's independence on 1 January 1984.^[6][7] When Brunei gained its independence, the Australian mission became a High Commission.^[8]

Heads of mission

For the representatives responsible for Brunei prior to 1979, see Australian High Commissioners to Singapore (1946–1963), and Australian High Commissioners to Malaysia (1963–1979).

#	Officeholder	Title	Residency	Term start date	Term end date	Time in office	Notes
1	Graham Feakes	Commissioner	Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia	30 July 1979 (1979-07-30)	April 1980 (1980-04)	8 months	[5]
2	Garry Woodard			April 1980 (1980-04)	March 1983 (1983-03)	2 years, 11 months	[9][10]
3	John Monfries		Bandar Seri Begawan	March 1983 (1983-03)	31 December 1983 (1983-12-31)	9 months	[7][11]
4	John Starey	High Commissioner		1 January 1984 (1984-01-01)	August 1988 (1988-08)	4 years, 7 months	[12][13]
5	Philip Knight			August 1988 (1988-08)	June 1992 (1992-06)	3 years, 10 months	[14][15]
6	Frank Milne			June 1992 (1992-06)	September 1995 (1995-09)	3 years, 3 months	[16]
7	Neal Davis			September 1995 (1995-09)	October 1999 (1999-10)	4 years, 1 month	[17]
8	Doug Chester			October 1999 (1999-10)	January 2001 (2001-01)	1 year, 3 months	[18]
9	Allaster Cox			January 2001 (2001-01)	February 2004 (2004-02)	3 years, 1 month	[19]
10	Christian Bennett			February 2004 (2004-02)	February 2006 (2006-02)	2 years	[20]
11	Ruth Adler			February 2006 (2006-02)	February 2009 (2009-02)	3 years	[21]
12	Mark Sawers			February 2009 (2009-02)	August 2012 (2012-08)	3 years, 6 months	[22]
13	Todd Mercer			August 2012 (2012-08)	August 2016 (2016-08)	4 years	[23]
14	Nicola Rosenblum			August 2016 (2016-08)	October 2020 (2020-10)	4 years, 2 months	[24][25]
15	Tiffany McDonald			October 2020 (2020-10)	December 2021 (2021-12)	1 year, 2 months	[26]
16	Luke Arnold			31 January 2022 (2022-01-31)	Incumbent	3 years, 282 days	[27][28]