Australian Office in Taipei

Australian Office in Taipei
澳洲辦事處
	Australian Office in Taipei at the Uni-President International Tower
Agency overview
Formed	1981; (as Australian Commerce and Industry Office); 2012; (as Australian Office in Taipei);
Jurisdiction	Taiwan
Headquarters	Xinyi, Taipei, Taiwan
Agency executive	Gary Cowan, ; Representative;
Parent agency	Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
Website	Australian Office Taipei

The Australian Office in Taipei (Chinese: 澳洲辦事處; pinyin: Àozhōu Bànshì Chù) represents Australian interests in Taiwan in the absence of formal diplomatic relations, functioning as a de facto embassy.^[5] The Office is headed by a Representative.

Its counterpart in Australia is the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Australia in Canberra.^[6]

History

It was established in 1981 as the Australian Commerce and Industry Office.^[1] This was under control of the Australian Chamber of Commerce.^[7] It adopted its present name in 2012.^[2]

The Visa and Citizenship Office of the Australian Consulate-General in Hong Kong is responsible for consular matters for applicants in Taiwan.^[8]

Before 1972, Australia recognised Taiwan as the "Republic of China", and had an embassy in Taipei, opened in 1966.^[9] In 1972, diplomatic relations were ended following the decision of the government of Gough Whitlam to recognise the People's Republic of China.^[10]

An unofficial organisation known as the Australia-Free China Society, established an office in 1974 to provide services for Australians visiting Taiwan, headed by Lu Chen-kai, Secretary-General of the Sino-Australian Cultural and Economic Association in Taipei.^[11] In Australia, Douglas Darby, a member of the NSW Legislative Assembly, President of the Australia-Free China Society, represented Taiwan in Australia.^[12]

List of representatives

#	Officeholder	Term start date	Term end date	Time in office	Notes
1	Bill Mattingly	1981	1990	8–9 years	^[13]
2	Rob O'Donovan	1990	1992	1–2 years	^[13]
3	Colin Heseltine	1992	1997	4–5 years	^[14]
4	Sam Gerovich	1997	2000	2–3 years	^[14]
5	Frances Adamson	2000	2005	4–5 years	^[15]
6	Steve Waters	2005	2008	2–3 years	^[16]
7	Alice Cawte	2008	2011	2–3 years	^[17]
8	Kevin Magee	2011	2014	2–3 years	^[18]
9	Catherine Raper	2014	2018	3–4 years	^[3]
10	Gary Cowan	2018	2021	2–3 years	^[19]
11	Jenny Bloomfield	2021	Incumbent	2–3 years	^[20]