Former Director-General of Security, Australia
A long-serving diplomat, David Irvine was Australian High Commissioner to Papua New Guinea from 1996-1999 and Australian Ambassador to the People’s Republic of China between 2000-2003, also concurrently Australian Ambassador to Mongolia and to the People’s Democratic Republic of Korea. He subsequently became the only person to have served as the head both of Australia’s foreign intelligence collection agency and its domestic security agency – positions he held for almost twelve years.
He served as Chairman of the Foreign Investment Review Board. He was an Adjunct Professor at Charles Sturt University and assisted at the National Security College within the Australian National University. He chaired the Cyber Security Research Centre, a not-for-profit company promoting industry investment into Australia’s cyber research capabilities in conjunction with the Government’s Cooperative Research Centre program.
Irvine published two books on Indonesian culture. He held honorary doctorates from the University of Western Australia (Letters) and Edith Cowan University (Science). He was a Fellow of the Australian Institute of International Affairs and was a member of the Advisory Council of the National Archives of Australia for nine years.
Irvine was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) in 2005 for services to the promotion of Australia’s international relations.