# Permanent Representative of Australia to the United Nations Office in Geneva

The ambassador and permanent representative of Australia to the United Nations Office in Geneva is an officer of the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the head of the delegation of the Commonwealth of Australia to the United Nations Office in Geneva, Switzerland, and also as permanent representative of Australia to the Conference on Disarmament.
The position has the rank and status of an ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary and has been sent since the establishment of the European Office of the United Nations in Geneva on 14 December 1949. The United Nations Office in Geneva includes the headquarters of various international organisations including the World Health Organization, the United Nations Human Rights Council, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and the International Labour Organization. From 1949 to 1973 the role was titled 'Permanent Delegate'. Since 1973, Australia's representation to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, and its successor the World Trade Organization, have been undertaken by a separate ambassador. From 1983 to 1997 there was a separate Permanent Representative to the Conference on Disarmament, but from its establishment in 1979 to 1983 and from 1997 to present it has been held by the present office.

## List of office holders

| # | Officeholder | Title | Term start date | Term end date | Time in office |
| 1 | Bertram Ballard | Permanent Delegate | 14 December 1949 (1949-12-14) | April 1951 (1951-04) | 1 year, 3 months |
| 2 | Patrick Shaw | Permanent Delegate | April 1951 (1951-04) | August 1953 (1953-08) | 2 years, 4 months |
| 3 | Ralph Harry | Permanent Delegate | August 1953 (1953-08) | March 1956 (1956-03) | 2 years, 7 months |
| 4 | Gordon Jockel | Permanent Delegate | March 1956 (1956-03) | February 1959 (1959-02) | 2 years, 11 months |
| 5 | Lawrence Arnott | Permanent Delegate | February 1959 (1959-02) | December 1961 (1961-12) | 2 years, 10 months |
| 6 | Robert Furlonger | Permanent Delegate | December 1961 (1961-12) | July 1964 (1964-07) | 2 years, 7 months |
| 7 | Brian Hill | Permanent Delegate | July 1964 (1964-07) | May 1969 (1969-05) | 4 years, 10 months |
| 8 | Harold Maxwell Loveday | Permanent Delegate | May 1969 (1969-05) | February 1973 (1973-02) | 3 years, 9 months |
| 9 | Laurence Corkery | Permanent Representative | February 1973 (1973-02) | December 1974 (1974-12) | 1 year, 10 months |
| 10 | Owen Davis | Permanent Representative | December 1974 (1974-12) | April 1977 (1977-04) | 2 years, 4 months |
| 11 | Frederick Blakeney | Permanent Representative | April 1977 (1977-04) | July 1978 (1978-07) | 1 year, 3 months |
| 12 | Lloyd Thomson | Permanent Representative | July 1978 (1978-07) | August 1981 (1981-08) | 3 years, 1 month |
| 13 | David Sadleir | Permanent Representative | August 1981 (1981-08) | October 1984 (1984-10) | 3 years, 2 months |
| 14 | Robert Robertson | Permanent Representative | October 1984 (1984-10) | December 1988 (1988-12) | 4 years, 2 months |
| 15 | Edward Ronald Walker | Permanent Representative | December 1988 (1988-12) | January 1993 (1993-01) | 4 years, 1 month |
| 16 | Penelope Wensley | Permanent Representative | January 1993 (1993-01) | July 1995 (1995-07) | 2 years, 6 months |
| 17 | Howard Bamsey | Permanent Representative | July 1995 (1995-07) | October 1996 (1996-10) | 1 year, 3 months |
| 18 | John Campbell | Permanent Representative | October 1996 (1996-10) | March 1999 (1999-03) | 2 years, 5 months |
| 19 | Les Luck | Permanent Representative | March 1999 (1999-03) | April 2002 (2002-04) | 3 years, 1 month |
| 20 | Michael Smith | Permanent Representative | April 2002 (2002-04) | May 2006 (2006-05) | 4 years, 1 month |
| 21 | Caroline Millar | Permanent Representative | May 2006 (2006-05) | February 2010 (2010-02) | 3 years, 9 months |
| 22 | Peter Woolcott | Permanent Representative | February 2010 (2010-02) | September 2014 (2014-09) | 4 years, 7 months |
| 23 | John Quinn | Permanent Representative | September 2014 (2014-09) | 29 March 2018 (2018-03-29) | 3 years, 6 months |
| 24 | Sally Mansfield | Permanent Representative | 29 March 2018 (2018-03-29) | Incumbent | 6 years, 332 days |

### Permanent representatives to the Conference on Disarmament

| # | Officeholder | Term start date | Term end date | Time in office |
| 1 | Richard Butler | September 1983 (1983-09) | January 1989 (1989-01) | 5 years, 4 months |
| 2 | David Reese | January 1989 (1989-01) | December 1990 (1990-12) | 1 year, 11 months |
| 3 | Paul O'Sullivan | December 1990 (1990-12) | March 1994 (1994-03) | 3 years, 3 months |
| 4 | Richard Starr | March 1994 (1994-03) | 1997 (1997) | 2–3 years |
| Functions assumed by the Permanent Representative of Australia to the United Nations Office in Geneva ||||||