# List of high commissioners of Australia to Nauru

The high commissioner of Australia to Nauru 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 Nauru. The position has the rank and status of an ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary and is currently by Matthew Barclay since January 2025. Australia is one of only two countries to have a resident diplomatic mission in Nauru, the other being the embassy of Taiwan.

## Posting history

With the end of the Australian trusteeship administration and the formal independence of Nauru on 31 January 1968, the Australian Government appointed a Representative to the small island nation. With the establishment of a resident Australian High Commission on Nauru's admission to the Commonwealth of Nations in 1972, the position also had responsibility as the Commissioner for the Gilbert and Ellice Islands (1972–1976) and the Gilbert Islands (1976–1979), and then as the non-resident accredited high commissioner to Kiribati from 1979. In 1981, The Australian Government announced that it would open a resident High Commission in Kiribati, which was achieved in August 1982.
In January 1975, Alan Fogg was appointed Commissioner in Nauru, and also as non-resident commissioner to the Solomon Islands. With the independence of the Solomon Islands in 1978, the resident Australian High Commission was established on 7 July 1978. In December 1981, career diplomat Rodney Hodgson was announced as the next high commissioner to Nauru. However a few weeks later he was killed in a car accident, before he could take up his appointment.
When the new Commonwealth government of Prime Minister John Howard cut the budget of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade in 1996–97, forcing the closure of the High Commission in Nauru, in July 1997, accreditation for Nauru was transferred to the high commission in Suva, Fiji. From 1997 to 2009, the position of high commissioner was held by the high commissioner resident in Fiji. A Consulate-General in Nauru was opened in 2002, which was subsequently upgraded to a High Commission on 4 August 2009.

## Heads of mission

| # | Officeholder | Title | Other offices | Residency | Term start date | Term end date | Time in office |
| 1 | James Jackson | Representative | n/a | Aiwo District | 26 August 1968 (1968-08-26) | 10 September 1970 (1970-09-10) | 2 years, 15 days |
| 2 | Richard Gate | Representative | n/a | Aiwo District | 10 September 1970 (1970-09-10) | 6 September 1972 (1972-09-06) | 1 year, 362 days |
| − | K. R. Fraser (Acting) | Representative | n/a | Aiwo District | 6 September 1972 (1972-09-06) | November 1972 (1972-11) | 1 month |
| 3 | Leslie Sellars | High Commissioner | | Aiwo District | November 1972 (1972-11) | December 1974 (1974-12) | 2 years, 1 month |
| 4 | Alan Fogg | High Commissioner | | Aiwo District | January 1975 (1975-01) | May 1977 (1977-05) | 2 years, 4 months |
| 5 | Maris King | High Commissioner | | Aiwo District | May 1977 (1977-05) | July 1979 (1979-07) | 2 years, 2 months |
| 6 | Oliver Cordell | High Commissioner | | Aiwo District | July 1979 (1979-07) | September 1982 (1982-09) | 3 years, 2 months |
| 7 | Ross Smith | High Commissioner | n/a | Aiwo District | September 1982 (1982-09) | July 1984 (1984-07) | 1 year, 10 months |
| − | David Wadham (Acting) | High Commissioner | n/a | Aiwo District | July 1984 (1984-07) | September 1985 (1985-09) | 1 year, 2 months |
| 8 | John Powys | High Commissioner | n/a | Aiwo District | January 1986 (1986-01) | January 1988 (1988-01) | 2 years |
| 9 | Beris Gwynne | High Commissioner | n/a | Aiwo District | January 1988 (1988-01) | January 1990 (1990-01) | 2 years |
| 10 | Barry Wyborn | High Commissioner | n/a | Aiwo District | January 1990 (1990-01) | February 1992 (1992-02) | 2 years, 1 month |
| 11 | Denis Fitzgerald | High Commissioner | n/a | Aiwo District | February 1992 (1992-02) | March 1995 (1995-03) | 3 years, 1 month |
| 12 | Tom Sinkovits | High Commissioner | n/a | Aiwo District | March 1995 (1995-03) | 18 July 1997 (1997-07-18) | 2 years, 4 months |
| 13 | Greg Urwin | High Commissioner | n/a | Suva, Fiji | 18 July 1997 (1997-07-18) | July 1999 (1999-07) | 1 year, 11 months |
| 14 | Susan Boyd | High Commissioner | n/a | Suva, Fiji | July 1999 (1999-07) | July 2003 (2003-07) | 4 years |
| 15 | Jennifer Rawson | High Commissioner | n/a | Suva, Fiji | July 2003 (2003-07) | January 2007 (2007-01) | 3 years, 6 months |
| 16 | James Batley | High Commissioner | n/a | Suva, Fiji | January 2007 (2007-01) | 2 August 2009 (2009-08-02) | 2 years, 7 months |
| 17 | George Fraser | High Commissioner | | Aiwo District | 2 August 2009 (2009-08-02) | November 2010 (2010-11) | 1 year, 2 months |
| 18 | Bruce Cowled | High Commissioner | n/a | Aiwo District | November 2010 (2010-11) | February 2014 (2014-02) | 3 years, 3 months |
| 19 | Martin Quinn | High Commissioner | n/a | Aiwo District | February 2014 (2014-02) | December 2015 (2015-12) | 1 year, 10 months |
| 20 | John Donnelly | High Commissioner | n/a | Aiwo District | December 2015 (2015-12) | December 2017 (2017-12) | 2 years |
| 21 | Angela Tierney | High Commissioner | n/a | Aiwo District | December 2017 (2017-12) | May 2021 (2021-05) | 3 years, 5 months |
| − | Andrew Hodges (Acting) | High Commissioner | n/a | Aiwo District | May 2021 (2021-05) | September 2021 (2021-09) | 4 months |
| 22 | Helen Cheney | High Commissioner | n/a | Aiwo District | September 2021 (2021-09) | January 2024 (2024-01) | 3 years, 5 months |
| 23 | Sara Moriarty | High Commissioner | n/a | Aiwo District | December 2023 (2023-12) | January 2025 (2025-01) | 1 year, 1 month |
| 24 | Matthew Barclay | High Commissioner | n/a | Aiwo District | January 2025 (2025-01) | incumbent | 1 month |