Ambassador to ASEAN

Today I announce the appointment of Ms Jane Duke as Australia's next Ambassador to the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), based in Jakarta.

Australia's Strategic Partnership with ASEAN is founded on longstanding political, economic and people-to-people ties. The ASEAN economies – collectively our second-largest trading partner – offer exciting opportunities for Australian business and investors with a fast-growing middle class and population of 620 million.

Throughout its near 50-year history, ASEAN has fostered cooperation among its members and throughout the region, establishing itself as a cornerstone of peace and prosperity in our neighbourhood. Australia has a profound interest in ASEAN's continuing success, including ASEAN-led forums such as the East Asia Summit.

Ms Duke is a senior career officer with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and was most recently Assistant Secretary, South-East Asia Regional Branch. She previously served overseas as Deputy High Commissioner, Malaysia and as Counsellor (Immigration) at Australia's Permanent Mission to the UN in Geneva.

In Canberra, Ms Duke has served as Assistant Secretary of the Canada and Latin America Branch, and the Northern, Southern and Eastern Europe Branch. Ms Duke has also held senior positions in the immigration portfolio.

Ms Duke holds a Bachelor of Arts (Asian Studies) and a Bachelor of Laws (Hons) from the Australian National University, and a Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice from the University of Technology Sydney.

I thank outgoing Ambassador Simon Merrifield, our first resident Ambassador to ASEAN, for his strong contribution to advancing Australia's interests with ASEAN since 2013.