Previously one of Australia’s most senior and long-serving diplomats, Gary Quinlan was Australia’s Ambassador to Indonesia from 2018 to 2021.
Prior to that he was Deputy Secretary of Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), and Australia’s Senior Official to ASEAN and to the East Asia Summit. He was concurrently Australia’s chief negotiator with Timor-Leste (East Timor) on maritime boundaries, resulting in the historic Maritime Boundaries Treaty of 2018. He was Australia’s Ambassador to the United Nations, New York 2009 to 2015; Australia’s Representative on the United Nations Security Council 2013 to 2014 and President of the Council twice during that period.
He was Senior Adviser to the Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs, Defence and National Security 2008 to 2009, and earlier had held senior positions in DFAT responsible for North Asia; the Americas; Europe; and in management. In 1999, he led Australia’s operational response to the East Timor crisis. He was a lead negotiator for Australia in international negotiations on Law of the Sea and on Antarctic matters.
His overseas assignments, prior to Ambassador to the United Nations, were as Deputy Ambassador in the Australian Embassy in Washington DC; High Commissioner (Ambassador) to Singapore; the Australian Mission to the United Nations, New York; the Australian Permanent Delegation to UNESCO, Paris; and the Australian Embassy, Dublin.
He has also served outside DFAT as Chief of Staff to the Australian Minister for Resources; the Minister for Industrial Relations; the Minister for Trade; and the Minister for Industry, Science and Technology.
Mr Quinlan holds a Bachelor of Arts (Hons) from the University of Newcastle, NSW and an Honorary Doctor of Letters (Newcastle). He was made an Officer in the Order of Australia (AO) in 2016 for his government service principally in international relations. He was conferred with the Ukraine Freedom Award in 2017 for his support for Ukraine during his membership of the Security Council and after. He was appointed a Fellow of the Australian Institute of International Affairs (AIIA) in 2022. Although now retired, he still does work for DFAT and other government agencies, and regularly presents on foreign policy issues to other bodies and in the media. He is a Board member of Advance Global Australians, which seeks to leverage the engagement of the large numbers of professional Australians living and working overseas.
