List of ambassadors of Australia to Saudi Arabia

Ambassador of Australia to Saudi Arabia
Incumbent Mark Donovan since 4 October 2021 (2021-10-04)
Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
Style	His Excellency
Reports to	Minister for Foreign Affairs
Residence	Riyadh
Nominator	Prime Minister of Australia
Appointer	Governor General of Australia
Inaugural holder	Ian Haig
Formation	1974

The Ambassador of Australia to Saudi Arabia 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 Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The ambassador resides in Riyadh and also holds non-resident accreditation for Bahrain, Oman and Yemen. Australia appointed its first ambassador to Saudi Arabia in 1974. ^[1]

Initially the embassy was located in Jeddah, and it was moved in 1984 to Riyadh, to comply with a Saudi Government policy directive. The Jeddah post remained open, as a Consulate-General. ^[2]

The current ambassador, since October 2021, is Mark Donovan.

List of heads of mission

Ordinal	Officeholder	Other offices	Residency	Term start date	Term end date	Time in office	Notes
1	Ian Haig		Jeddah, Saudi Arabia	1974 (1974)	1976 (1976)	1–2 years	[1] [3]
2	Donald Kingsmill			1976 (1976)	1979 (1979)	2–3 years	[4]
3	Douglas Sturkey			1979 (1979)	1983 (1983)	3–4 years
4	Alan Brown			1983 (1983)	1984 (1984)	4–5 years	[5]
			Riyadh, Saudi Arabia	1984 (1984)	1988 (1988)
5	Alex McGoldrick			1988 (1988)	1991 (1991)	2–3 years	[6]
6	Malcolm Leader			1991 (1991)	1993 (1993)	1–2 years	[7] [8]
7	Warwick Weemaes			1993 (1993)	1996 (1996)	2–3 years	[9]
8	Philip Knight	A B C D		1996 (1996)	1998 (1998)	1–2 years	[10]
9	George Aitkin	A B C D		1998 (1998)	2000 (2000)	1–2 years	[11]
10	Bob Tyson	A B C D		2000 (2000)	23 December 2004 (2004-12-23)	3–4 years	[12]
11	Ian Biggs	A B		2005 (2005)	2008 (2008)	2–3 years	[13]
12	Kevin Magee	A B C		2008 (2008)	2011 (2011)	2–3 years	[14]
13	Neil Hawkins	A B		2011 (2011)	2015 (2015)	3–4 years	[15]
14	Ralph King	A B C		2015 (2015)	25 May 2018 (2018-05-25)	2–3 years	[16]
15	Ridwaan Jadwat	A B C		25 May 2018 (2018-05-25)	2021 (2021)	2–3 years	[17]
16	Mark Donovan	A B C		4 October 2021 (2021-10-04)	incumbent	1 year, 72 days	[18] [19]

Notes

^A : Also served as non-resident ambassador of Australia to the Kingdom of Bahrain, since 1996.

^B : Also served as non-resident ambassador of Australia to the Sultanate of Oman, since 1996.

^C : Also served as non-resident ambassador of Australia to the Republic of Yemen, from 1998 to December 2007, and since March 2015.

^D : Also served as non-resident ambassador of Australia to the State of Kuwait, from 1998 to December 2004.

References

1. "Ambassador". The Canberra Times. 9 February 1974. p. 1.
2. "X - Diplomatic and Consular Relations" (PDF), Australian Year Book of International Law: 457-458, 1987, archived (PDF) from the original on 17 June 2012, retrieved 4 February 2017
3. Debelle, Bruce (29 March 2014). "Youngest ambassador had a deep affinity for the world of Islam - and cricket". The Sydney Morning Herald. Fairfax Media. Archived from the original on 5 March 2015.
4. "Ambassador named". The Canberra Times. 11 June 1976. p. 8.
5. "New Ambassador to Saudi Arabia". The Canberra Times. 12 November 1983. p. 3.
6. "Saudi Arabia ambassador announced". The Canberra Times. 9 January 1988. p. 3.
7. "New ambassador for Riyadh". The Canberra Times. 23 March 1991. p. 16.
8. Downer, Alexander (17 May 2000), Diplomatic Appointment: Ambassador to Denmark, Australian Government, archived from the original on 12 February 2014
9. "Ambassador named". The Canberra Times. 1 September 1993. p. 6.
10. Downer, Alexander (22 March 1996). "Diplomatic Appointment: Ambassador To Saudi Arabia" (Press release). Australian Government. Archived from the original on 12 February 2014.
11. Downer, Alexander (23 January 1998). "Diplomatic Appointment: Ambassador to Saudi Arabia" (Press release). Australian Government. Archived from the original on 12 February 2014.
12. Downer, Alexander (18 August 2000). "Diplomatic Appointment: Ambassador to Saudi Arabia" (Press release). Australian Government. Archived from the original on 12 February 2014.
13. Downer, Alexander (14 October 2004). "Diplomatic Appointment: Ambassador to Saudi Arabia" (Press release). Australian Government. Archived from the original on 14 July 2014.
14. Smith, Stephen (21 December 2007). "Diplomatic Appointment - Ambassador to Saudi Arabia" (Press release). Australian Government. Archived from the original on 17 March 2014.
15. Rudd, Kevin (14 July 2011). "Diplomatic Appointment - Saudi Arabia" (Press release). Australian Government. Archived from the original on 14 July 2014.
16. Bishop, Julie (16 March 2015). "Ambassador to Saudi Arabia" (Press release). Australian Government. Archived from the original on 3 April 2015.
17. Bishop, Julie (25 May 2018). "Ambassador to Saudi Arabia" (Press release). Australian Government. Archived from the original on 20 March 2019. Retrieved 27 May 2018.
18. "Ambassador to Saudi Arabia". Minister for Foreign Affairs. 25 June 2021. Retrieved 13 July 2022.
19. "Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Receives Credentials of a Number of Ambassadors of Brotherly and Friendly Countries". Saudi Press Agency (Press release). 4 October 2021. Retrieved 14 December 2022.