Australian Embassy
Ireland

Welcome to the Australian Embassy Ireland

The Embassy’s role is to promote Australia’s interests in Ireland, and build on the extremely warm, friendly and productive relationship between our countries. 

We also provide consular assistance and advice to Australians in Ireland, pass on news on upcoming events in Australia and in Ireland.

We are continually looking to update our website to make it more accessible, and to highlight the huge range of activities that go on between our two countries all the time – whether visits at the top of government,  the growing number of business dealings, or sporting, cultural and educational exchanges.  We are a small team, and can’t get to everything, but we want to support as much of this activity as possible.

So if you know of anything that’s about to happen in Ireland that is related to Australia – or if you’d just like to give us some feedback on how we’re doing – don’t hesitate to drop us a line on [email protected]   

 

The Australian Ambassador to Ireland

Gary Gray is Ambassador to Ireland, taking up his position in August 2020.

Gary was born in Yorkshire UK and emigrated with his family to Whyalla, South Australia in 1966.  Gary was dux of Whyalla High School, studied economics at the Australian National University in Canberra and until recently lived in Perth with his three sons. 

Gary’s wife and mother of his sons Deborah, died of cancer, Deborah had extensive Irish connections in; Tipperary, Cork and Limerick. Gary and Philippa McIntosh (Pippa) were married in Ireland in summer 2023. Pippa has distant Irish connections in Cork.

Gary has a public policy and political background. He worked successfully with the Hawke Government before being appointed General Secretary of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) during Paul Keating’s Prime Ministership in the 1990s. During this time Gary established a strong reputation for delivering strategic outcomes in campaigns, organisation, media management, communications, brand and logistics management. Gary led and successfully delivered community building campaigns for the party. He put in place strong and enduring affirmative action requirements for public office holders and modernised many Labor party processes. He led the ALP’s international engagement strategy across several countries including South Africa, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and Fiji.

In 2001 Gary was awarded the Centenary Medal and was made an Officer in the Order of Australia in 2003 by Prime Minister John Howard that citation reflects Gary’s integrity in public life and support for affirmative action.

Gary’s business background includes a period as Executive Director at the West Australian Institute of Medical Research and years as a Senior Executive of Australia's largest oil and gas company, Woodside Energy, which he represented before Governments and customers on four continents over seven years until 2007. During his time at Woodside Energy, the company was seen as a leader in project development, international market expansion and as a reliable source of advice to Government. 

During his Parliamentary career from 2007 to 2016 Gary always served in front bench roles including Minister for the; Public Service; Integrity; Tourism; Small Business and Resources and Energy. Gary's interests include; tourism, mining, resources industry history, policy, social inclusion, defence matters, public administration and his hobby is astronomy.

Gary was a board member of the Australian Submarine Corporation (ASC) and remains as a member of the Independent Parliamentary Expenses Authority (IPEA). Prior to his Ambassadorial appointment by Prime Minister Morrison, Gary was also a Senior Executive at Mineral Resources Ltd in Perth where Gary took the lead on essential relationships with Government, communities, other businesses and regulators, driving relationships and approvals in lithium mining and processing, iron ore mining and associated logistics.

In March of 2020 Gary was instrumental in establishing PCR COVID-19 screening of mining workers to keep the Western Australian mining industry working and safe from COVID-19.

Until recently Gary was a Management Committee Member of the Perth Astronomical Observatory and was a trustee of the largest charity in Australia, Telethon. He stepped down from both of these roles and as a board member of ASC to accommodate his recent diplomatic appointment.

 

Citizenship and Visas

Information on Australian citizenship and visas may be found in the Connecting with Australia – Visa and Citizenship.

The Australian Embassy in Ireland does not process visa or citizenship applications.  Staff at the Embassy in Ireland are unable to assist with visa enquiries.

The Department of Home Affairs has a Global Service Centre to assist with enquiries relating visa and citizenship requirements to Australia, please visit https://www.homeaffairs.gov.au/ for any visa, migration or citizenship enquiries, you can also call the GSC line on +61 2 6196 0196 and services are available Monday to Friday, 9 am to 5 pm (GMT, local client time).

 

Reminder to dual national Australian citizens 

Dual national Australian citizens are reminded that they’re required to enter and leave Australia on an Australian passport.  Dual nationals travelling to Australia on a foreign passport may experience issues and  delays, for example airlines may not allow an individual to board a plane to Australia without an Australian passport.  Further information can be found on multiple Australian government official websites at:

 

Police Clearances

To obtain an Australian police check you need to apply online through the Australian Federal Police website - www.afp.gov.au - by clicking on the option that reads 'National Police Checks' on the right-hand side of the screen. You will then see the instructions to apply for one.

If you need further information on the process, you should contact that department directly on 0061 261 40 6502, and they will be able to help you.  If you prefer to email them, there is an online contact form on the website: https://www.afp.gov.au/what-we-do/services/criminal-records/national-police-checks

The Australian Federal Police (AFP) has advised that they have restricted access to printing of National Police Certificates (NPCs) to mitigate the risk of fraud. Clients requiring legalisation (Apostille or Authentication) or certified copies of AFP NPCs must request a hard copy version from AFP to present to the notarial officer at the Australian Embassy in Dublin. (link)

 

 

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