Foreign Minister Bob Carr today announced Mr Bill Fisher as Australia's next Ambassador for Counter-Terrorism.

Mr Fisher will be based in Canberra and takes up his position immediately, replacing Mr Bill Paterson AM.

Mr Fisher will be Australia's fifth Ambassador for Counter-Terrorism. The position was established in March 2003 to assist in coordinating and promoting Australia's international counter-terrorism efforts.

Mr Fisher is a senior career officer with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. He was previously Special Envoy to La Francophonie and to the Francophone States of Africa, and concurrently Head of the DFAT Melbourne Office. He has previously served as High Commissioner to Canada and Ambassador to France, Thailand and Israel. He was also Head of Post in Honolulu, Tehran, Port Vila and Noumea with earlier postings to Laos and to the Mission to the United Nations in Geneva.

Mr Fisher holds a Bachelor of Economics (Honours) from the Australian National University. He is married with one daughter. Mr Fisher is a fluent French speaker.

Key elements of Australia's international counter-terrorism efforts include:

• Bilateral engagement, particularly government-to-government cooperation on counter-terrorism issues. Australia has memoranda of understanding on counter-terrorism with 17 nations including Indonesia, the Philippines, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia and France. These provide frameworks for sharing information and facilitating counter-terrorism activities;
• Multilateral engagement in forums such as the United Nations (UN), the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), the Pacific Island Forum (PIF), and the new Global Counter-Terrorism Forum (GCTF); and
• Engagement with experts in Australian and international think-tanks, academia and the private sector.

Media enquiries

• Minister's office: (02) 6277 7500
• DFAT Media Liaison: (02) 6261 1555