List of ambassadors of Australia to Russia


The Ambassador of Australia to the Russian Federation 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 Russian Federation. The position has the rank and status of an Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary and holds non-resident accreditation for Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Armenia and Belarus. The current ambassador since July 2019 is Graeme Meehan.

Posting history

Russia and Australia have enjoyed diplomatic relations since 1942, when Australia opened channels with the Soviet Union. This occurred on 13 October 1942 with the conclusion of negotiations between Foreign Ministers Herbert Evatt and Vyacheslav Molotov. The Australian Legation opened in January 1943 in the temporary Russian capital of Kuybyshev and the Soviet embassy in Canberra also opened in March 1943.
By the war's end the legation moved to Moscow and on 16 February 1948 was upgraded to an embassy. In February 1950 the ambassador Alan Watt was recalled by the Australian government and was not replaced. In April 1954 with the scandal of the Petrov Affair the embassy in Moscow was closed, but later reopened in 1959. Between 1964 and 1966, the ambassador in Moscow held accreditation as Ambassador to Sweden. Between June 1972 and September 1973, the ambassador in Moscow was accredited to Warsaw. With the dissolution of the Soviet Union in late 1991, Australia acted to recognise the new states of the Commonwealth of Independent States on 26 December 1991. As a result, the embassy's accreditation was transferred to the Russian Federation, while non-resident accreditation to many of the new former Soviet republics was acquired. Non-resident accreditation with the Ukraine was consequently included from 10 January 1992, but was transferred to the new embassy established in Kiev in February 2015 following the Euromaidan protests across Ukraine. From 12 June 1973 to 29 May 1991, accreditation to Mongolia was also held by the embassy in Moscow until it was transferred to the Embassy in Beijing. Accreditation for Azerbaijan and Georgia was transferred to the Embassy in Ankara, Turkey in 2011. Accreditation for Moldova was transferred to the Embassy in Kyiv, Ukraine in 2019.
The Australian Government established an embassy in Almaty, Kazakhstan in 1995 and appointed its first resident ambassador, Douglas Townsend. The Australian Government announced plans to close its embassy in Kazakhstan in August 1999. According to the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the closure was due to resource constraints.

Office holders

Ministers to the Soviet Union

Ambassadors to the Soviet Union

Ambassadors to the Russian Federation

NameStart of termEnd of termReferences
Cavan Hogue26 December 1991November 1994
Geoffrey Bentley2 November 199419 December 1998
Ruth Pearce18 November 199829 January 2002
Leslie Rowe18 December 2002February 2005
Bob Tyson28 February 2005June 2008
Margaret TwomeyJune 2008October 2013
Paul Myler24 October 2013December 2015
Peter TeschJanuary 2016April 2019
Graeme MeehanJuly 2019Present

Ambassadors to Kazakhstan