The Ambassador of Australia to Indonesia is an officer of the

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) is the department of the Australian federal government responsible for foreign policy and relations, international aid (using the branding Australian Aid), consular services and trade and inv ...

and the head of the Embassy of the

Commonwealth of Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...

to the

Republic of Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guinea. Ind ...

. The position has the rank and status of an

Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or sov ...

and the Embassy in

Jakarta Jakarta (; , bew, Jakarte), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta ( id, Daerah Khusus Ibukota Jakarta) is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Lying on the northwest coast of Java, the world's most populous island, Jakarta ...

is Australia's largest embassy and one of Australia's most important overseas posts. The Embassy is assisted in their work by Consulates in

Bali Bali () is a province of Indonesia and the westernmost of the Lesser Sunda Islands. East of Java and west of Lombok, the province includes the island of Bali and a few smaller neighbouring islands, notably Nusa Penida, Nusa Lembongan, and Nu ...

(since 1981),

Makassar Makassar (, mak, ᨆᨀᨔᨑ, Mangkasara’, ) is the capital of the Indonesian province of South Sulawesi. It is the largest city in the region of Eastern Indonesia and the country's fifth-largest urban center after Jakarta, Surabaya, Med ...

(since 2016) and

Surabaya Surabaya ( jv, ꦱꦸꦫꦧꦪ or jv, ꦯꦹꦫꦨꦪ; ; ) is the capital city of the Provinces of Indonesia, Indonesian province of East Java and the List of Indonesian cities by population, second-largest city in Indonesia, after Jakarta. L ...

(since 2017). The current ambassador, since April 2021, is

Penny Williams Penny Baldwin Williams (May 6, 1937 – April 16, 2018) was an American Democratic Party politician from Oklahoma. Williams served as a legislator in the Oklahoma House of Representatives from 1981 to 1988, representing District 70. She later ...

Posting history

COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM Het kantoor van de Chartered Bank aan de Kali Besar West Batavia TMnr 10015461

On 30 August 1933 the Minister for Commerce, Frederick Stewart, secured Cabinet approval for the establishment of several Trade Commissions in the East, with

Batavia Batavia may refer to: Historical places * Batavia (region), a land inhabited by the Batavian people during the Roman Empire, today part of the Netherlands * Batavia, Dutch East Indies, present-day Jakarta, the former capital of the Dutch East In ...

in the

Netherlands East Indies The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies ( nl, Nederlands(ch)-Indië; ), was a Dutch colony consisting of what is now Indonesia. It was formed from the nationalised trading posts of the Dutch East India Company, which ...

being one of the most likely locations. However a decision to appoint a commissioner was delayed pending the report of the Australian Eastern Mission, Attorney General and Minister for External Affairs John Latham's fact-finding mission to the Far East, which found a dire need for Australian trade representative to improve mercantile connections in the region. Following Latham's return the Australian Government agreed to appoint a new Trade Commissioner, and the appointment of

Charles Edward Critchley Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English and French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*karilaz'' (in Latin alphabet), whose meaning was " ...

to Batavia, alongside appointments to Tokyo and Shanghai, was announced on 7 June 1935 by acting Prime Minister

Earle Page Sir Earle Christmas Grafton Page (8 August 188020 December 1961) was an Australian surgeon and politician who served as the 11th Prime Minister of Australia, holding office for 19 days after the death of Joseph Lyons in 1939. He was the leade ...

. Arriving in September, Critchley met with Governor-General

Bonifacius Cornelis de Jonge Bonifacius Cornelis de Jonge (22 January 1875 – 24 June 1958) was a Dutch politician. He was the Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies in 1931–1936.Tambora,

Old Batavia Kota Tua Jakarta (Indonesian for "Jakarta Old Town"), officially known as Kota Tua, is a neighborhood comprising the original downtown area of Jakarta, Indonesia. It is also known as (Dutch for "Old Batavia"), ("Lower City", contrasting it wit ...

. In January 1938, Critchley was succeeded by

Herbert Anton Peterson Herbert may refer to: People Individuals * Herbert (musician), a pseudonym of Matthew Herbert Name * Herbert (given name) * Herbert (surname) Places Antarctica * Herbert Mountains, Coats Land * Herbert Sound, Graham Land Australia * Herbert, ...

, who was given the new title of "Australian Government Commissioner", which was changed to remove confusion that the "Trade Commissioner" was merely a commercial representative. Commissioner Peterson served until escaping to Australia a few days after the Japanese invasion of Java in 1942. Early Australian arrangements to establish diplomatic relations with Indonesia after the Indonesian proclamation of Independence on 17 August 1945 were complicated by the British and Dutch involvement in military activities in Indonesia in the next few years. Australia was dissuaded from establishing a consulate-general in Batavia in 1945 and instead sent a political representative to be attached to the

Allied Forces, Netherlands East Indies An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...

(AFNEI), the command controlling areas of the Dutch East Indies liberated from Japanese forces.

William Macmahon Ball William Macmahon Ball, AC (29 August 1901 – 26 December 1986) was an Australian academic and diplomat. Born in Casterton, Victoria, he was educated at Caulfield Grammar School and the University of Melbourne, where he received a Bachelor of ...

, the Australian Political Representative to the AFNEI, arrived in Batavia on 7 November 1945 and returned to Australia in December 1945. In March 1946 the Department of External Affairs appointed

Alfred Deakin Brookes Alfred Deakin Brookes (11 April 1920 – 19 June 2005) was the first head of the Australian Secret Intelligence Service, the intelligence agency of the Australian government that collects foreign intelligence. of the Intelligence Services Act 20 ...

as the new Political Representative. However, his departure in early June, owing to ill health, coincided with the arrival of Justice Richard Kirby, who acted as Political Representative in his absence before returning to Australia on 28 July 1946. Bertram Ballard was appointed as Australian Political Representative with AFNEI on 16 August 1946, as political representative Ballard was advised by Minister for External Affairs,

Herbert Evatt Herbert Vere Evatt, (30 April 1894 – 2 November 1965) was an Australian politician and judge. He served as a judge of the High Court of Australia from 1930 to 1940, Attorney-General and Minister for External Affairs from 1941 to 1949, and l ...

directed him to establish informal relations with the Indonesians and to act as Australia's ''de facto'' representative to the republican government in

Jogjakarta Yogyakarta (; jv, ꦔꦪꦺꦴꦒꦾꦏꦂꦠ ; pey, Jogjakarta) is the capital city of Special Region of Yogyakarta in Indonesia, in the south-central part of the island of Java. As the only Indonesian royal city still ruled by a monarchy, ...

. The post of Consul-General was created following the departure of AFNEI in late 1946 following the Indonesia-Dutch settlement, and Ballard was formally appointed Consul-General on 5 December 1946 and accredited by the Netherlands East Indies Government on 12 February 1947. He held this appointment until September 1947 when Charles Eaton, the former Consul to

Portuguese Timor Portuguese Timor ( pt, Timor Português) was a colonial possession of Portugal that existed between 1702 and 1975. During most of this period, Portugal shared the island of Timor with the Dutch East Indies. The first Europeans to arrive in the ...

, replaced him. In April 1950, the Consulate-General in Jakarta was raised to the status of an embassy, with the first Australian Ambassador to Indonesia, John Hood, appointed by External Affairs Minister

Percy Spender Sir Percy Claude Spender (5 October 18973 May 1985) was an Australian politician, diplomat, and judge. He served in the House of Representatives from 1937 to 1951, including as a cabinet minister under Robert Menzies and Arthur Fadden. He was ...

List of heads of mission

: : Woolcott was Australian ambassador in Jakarta when difficulties over developments in Portuguese Timor, later

Timor Leste East Timor (), also known as Timor-Leste (), officially the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, is an island country in Southeast Asia. It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, the exclave of Oecusse on the island's north-wester ...

, came to a head. : : There was initially a slight delay in Jakarta before Ritchie's appointment was approved. This was reportedly because of some concerns in the

Indonesian Parliament The People's Consultative Assembly of the Republic of Indonesia ( id, Majelis Permusyawaratan Rakyat Republik Indonesia, MPR-RI) is the legislative branch in Politics of Indonesia, Indonesia's political system. It is composed of the membe ...

about the possible approach that Ritchie might take towards Indonesian policy in Papua in responding to problems of regional

conflict Conflict may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Conflict'' (1921 film), an American silent film directed by Stuart Paton * ''Conflict'' (1936 film), an American boxing film starring John Wayne * ''Conflict'' (1937 film) ...

in the province. : : On 29 April 2015 the Australian Prime Minister

Tony Abbott Anthony John Abbott (; born 4 November 1957) is a former Australian politician who served as the 28th prime minister of Australia from 2013 to 2015. He held office as the leader of the Liberal Party of Australia. Abbott was born in Londo ...

announced that Grigson would be recalled to Canberra for consultations following the execution of two Australians in Indonesia who had been convicted of drug smuggling. Grigson returned to his post in Jakarta in early June after being in Canberra for consultations for about six weeks. : : In early April 2020, Quinlan temporarily relocated to Australia because of his vulnerability to

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

infections. He was expected to continue to oversee Australian embassy operations in Jakarta from Canberra.

Consuls-General

Bali

Makassar

Surabaya

References

External links

Australian Embassy, IndonesiaAustralian Consulate-General, MakassarAustralian Consulate-General, Surabaya
{{Australia–Indonesia relations

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...