List of diplomatic missions in Australia

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Diplomatic missions in Australia Australia Countries with embassies/high commissions in Australia Countries with consulates-general only in Australia

Consulates and legations were operating in Australian cities long before the Commonwealth of Australia was founded in 1901. The United States opened a consulate in Sydney in 1836, with other countries later following including Switzerland (1855), Germany (1879) and Japan (1896, in Townsville).

The diplomatic corps was first established in Canberra in 1936 when the United Kingdom appointed its first High Commissioner to Australia. Canada appointed a representative in 1937 and the United States of America opened a mission in 1939 with their first envoy presenting his credentials in 1940. In 1946 Australia and the United States raised the rank of representatives exchanged by the two countries to that of Ambassador; the American Embassy thus becoming the first embassy to be established in Canberra.[1] Other countries, such as Sweden, followed soon afterwards. In 1943, the United States became the first country to build an embassy in Canberra

Initially residences and chanceries were in the suburbs of Red Hill and Forrest. The majority of missions are today in the lakeside suburb of Yarralumla or the suburb of O'Malley in the Woden Valley.

Some countries have chosen not to establish an embassy in Canberra but instead operate a consulate in a major city, such as Sydney (Colombia and Cuba), Melbourne (El Salvador, Oman and Paraguay) and Brisbane (Nauru)