Ambassador for Arms Control and Counter-Proliferation

Today I announce the appointment of Ms Vanessa Wood as Australia's Ambassador for Arms Control and Counter-Proliferation.

The Ambassador for Arms Control and Counter-Proliferation plays a key role in Australia's efforts to help maintain the conditions for global peace and our work towards a world free of weapons of mass destruction.



Ms Wood will lead Australia's ongoing advocacy to counter the proliferation and use of chemical and biological weapons, and on the appropriate regulation of conventional arms.



She will also lead Australia's efforts in pursuit of a world without nuclear weapons, including by strengthening the global non-proliferation and disarmament architecture.

Ms Wood is a senior career officer in the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and served as Assistant Secretary, Arms Control and Counter-Proliferation Branch. She has previously served overseas in the Philippines, Vietnam, and in Switzerland as Australia's Counsellor to the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva.

I thank former Ambassador Ian Biggs for his contributions to advancing Australia's global arms-control interests since 2022.