The ambassador of Australia to Vietnam 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 Socialist Republic of Vietnam. The position has the rank and status of an ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary and has resided exclusively in Hanoi since 1975. The current ambassador, since March 2025, is Gillian Bird.
The ambassador's work has been assisted since 1994 by a Consulate-General in Ho Chi Minh City.
Posting history In 1949, the three constituent states of French Indochina, the State of Vietnam and the protectorates of Cambodia and Laos were granted the status of an associated state within the French Union, with gradual limited independence from 1950 including in foreign affairs. On 12 January 1952, the Australian Minister for External Affairs, Richard Casey, announced the establishment of diplomatic relations between Australia and the Associated States of Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia, and that a legation would be established in Saigon. The legation opened on 23 March 1952, with John Rowland as charge d'affaires, and the first minister, John Quinn, took office from November 1952. Quin presented his credentials to the Chief of State of Vietnam, Bảo Đại, on 29 December 1952, to the King of Cambodia, Norodom Sihanouk, on 7 February 1953, and to the King of Laos, Sisavang Vong, on 2 April 1953.
On 20 January 1955, External Affairs Minister Casey announced that a separate Australian Legation to Cambodia would shortly be established in Phnom Penh, with the minister resident in Saigon continuing to be accredited to Cambodia. The Cambodia office opened on 29 October 1955 with Harold David Anderson as charge d'affaires, and the Saigon-resident ministers would continue to represent Cambodia until 1957, when a separate minister was appointed. A separate legation office for Laos was established in Vientiane on 12 October 1959, and on 30 December 1960 Arthur Morris was appointed as the first separate minister to Laos. On 21 August 1959, with the appointment of the first ambassador to Vietnam, Bill Forsyth, the Saigon legation was raised to the status of embassy. The Australian Embassy to the Republic of Vietnam, based from 1962 to 1975 in the Caravelle Hotel, was evacuated in the days before the Fall of Saigon.
On 26 February 1973, Australia established diplomatic relations with the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam) and opened its embassy in Hanoi on 28 July 1973. David Wilson was appointed the first ambassador on 7 November 1973. On 22 August 1975, with the collapse of the government of the Republic of Vietnam on 30 April 1975, Australia established diplomatic relations with the Provisional Revolutionary Government of the Republic of South Vietnam, with ambassador Wilson in Hanoi holding non-resident accreditation to the provisional government from 8 August 1975. On 22 January 1976 Wilson presented his credentials in Saigon. On 2 July 1976, it was announced that North and South Vietnam had merged to form the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, with Hanoi as the capital, and the Australian Embassy continued its representation there. A Consulate-General opened in Ho Chi Minh City in November 1994 as part of an Australian Government expansion of trade-focused diplomatic posts.
Heads of mission Ministers to Vietnam NameStart of termEnd of termReferencesJohn Rowland (Charge d'Affaires)23 March 195212 November 1952John Quinn 12 November 19521955David McNicol 19551956Frederick Blakeney195721 August 1959
Ambassadors to the Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam) NameStart of termEnd of termReferencesBill Forsyth21 August 195915 December 1961Chad Mitcham, ‘Forsyth, William Douglass (Bill)’, Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/forsyth-william-douglass-bill-27737, published online 2018; Brian Clarence Hill 15 December 19611 March 1964Harold David Anderson 1 March 19647 July 1966Lew Border7 July 19669 August 1968Ralph Harry 9 August 196829 December 1970Arthur Morris 29 December 197026 July 1973Michael Cook 26 July 197322 March 1974Geoffrey John Price22 March 197425 April 1975Mitcham, Chad J., ‘Price, Geoffrey John (1930-1999’, Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/price-geoffrey-john-32557, published online 2023; Republic replaced by Provisional Revolutionary Government David Wilson (resident in Hanoi)8 August 19752 July 1976
Ambassador to the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam) NameStart of termEnd of termReferencesBruce Woodberry (Charge d'affaires)28 July 19732 October 1974Graeme Lewis (Charge d'affaires)2 October 197412 March 1975David Wilson12 March 19752 July 1976
Ambassadors to the Socialist Republic of Vietnam NameStart of termEnd of termReferencesDavid Wilson2 July 1976September 1976John BrookSeptember 1976January 1979Philip KnightJanuary 1979April 1981John McCarthyApril 1981September 1983Richard BroinowskiSeptember 1983January 1986Ian LincolnJanuary 1986September 1988Graham AllibandSeptember 1988August 1991Michael PottsAugust 1991October 1994Susan BoydOctober 1994June 1998Michael MannJune 1998August 2002Joe ThwaitesAugust 200222 April 2005Bill Tweddell22 April 200530 July 2008Allaster Cox30 July 20085 May 2012Hugh Borrowman5 May 20124 May 2016Craig Chittick4 May 201622 March 2019Robyn Mudie22 March 201930 September 2022Andrew Goledzinowski30 September 2022December 2024Gillian Bird24 April 2025Incumbent
Consuls-General in Ho Chi Minh City NameStart of termEnd of termReferencesPeter BaxterNovember 1994June 1997Lisa FilipettoJune 1997August 2001Dr Stephen HenninghamAugust 2001August 2005Malcolm SkellyAugust 2005September 2008Graeme SwiftSeptember 200811 December 2011John James McAnulty11 December 201115 December 2015Karen Lanyon15 December 201530 October 2018Julianne Cowley30 October 201820 December 2021Sarah Hooper20 December 202106 May 2026Kate Wallace07 May 2026present
See also Australia–Vietnam relations
References
External links
Australian Embassy, Vietnam Australian Consulate-General – Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam