In 1949, the three constituent states of French Indochina, the State of Vietnam and the protectorates of Cambodia and Laos were granted the status of an associated state within the French Union, with gradual limited independence from 1950 including in foreign affairs. On 12 January 1952, the Australian Minister for External Affairs, Richard Casey, announced the establishment of diplomatic relations between Australia and the Associated States of Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia, and that a legation would be established in Saigon.[5][6] The legation opened on 23 March 1952, with John Rowland as charge d'affaires, and the first minister, John Quinn, took office from November 1952.[7] Quin presented his credentials to the Chief of State of Vietnam, Bảo Đại, on 29 December 1952, to the King of Cambodia, Norodom Sihanouk, on 7 February 1953, and to the King of Laos, Sisavang Vong, on 2 April 1953.[1]
On 20 January 1955, External Affairs Minister Casey announced that a separate Australian Legation to Cambodia would shortly be established in Phnom Penh, with the minister resident in Saigon continuing to be accredited to Cambodia.[8] The Cambodia office opened on 29 October 1955 with Harold David Anderson as charge d'affaires, and the Saigon-resident ministers would continue to represent Cambodia until 1957, when a separate minister was appointed.[1] A separate legation office for Laos was established in Vientiane on 12 October 1959, and on 30 December 1960 Arthur Morris was appointed as the first separate minister to Laos.[1][9] On 21 August 1959, with the appointment of the first ambassador to Vietnam, Bill Forsyth, the Saigon legation was raised to the status of embassy.[10] The Australian Embassy to the Republic of Vietnam, based from 1962 to 1975 in the Caravelle Hotel, was evacuated in the days before the Fall of Saigon.[11][12]
On 26 February 1973, Australia established diplomatic relations with the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam) and opened its embassy in Hanoi on 28 July 1973. David Wilson was appointed the first ambassador on 7 November 1973.[3] On 22 August 1975, with the collapse of the government of the Republic of Vietnam on 30 April 1975, Australia established diplomatic relations with the Provisional Revolutionary Government of the Republic of South Vietnam, with ambassador Wilson in Hanoi holding non-resident accreditation to the provisional government from 8 August 1975. On 22 January 1976 Wilson presented his credentials in Saigon.[3] On 2 July 1976, it was announced that North and South Vietnam had merged to form the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, with Hanoi as the capital, and the Australian Embassy continued its representation there.[4] A Consulate-General opened in Ho Chi Minh City in November 1994 as part of an Australian Government expansion of trade-focused diplomatic posts.[13][14]
The Embassy of Australia, located on 8 Dao Tan Street, Ba Đình district, Hanoi, since 1995.
^"FIRST MINISTER TO INDO-CHINA". The Canberra Times. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 13 November 1952. p. 4. Retrieved 11 March 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
^"NEW MINISTER APPOINTED TO CAMBODIA". The Canberra Times. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 21 January 1955. p. 1. Retrieved 11 March 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
^"MINISTER FOR EAST". The Canberra Times. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 31 December 1960. p. 3. Retrieved 11 March 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
^ abChad Mitcham, ‘Forsyth, William Douglass (Bill)’, Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/forsyth-william-douglass-bill-27737, published online 2018; "Ambassador to Vietnam appointed". The Canberra Times. 2 July 1959. p. 2. The Government has raised the Australian Legation in Vietnam to the status of an Embassy and has appointed Mr. W. D. Forsyth as Australia's first Ambassador in Saigon.
^"FA's new head foreshadows a few changes". The Canberra Times. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 4 January 1974. p. 2. Retrieved 11 March 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
^Edwards, Peter (1 May 2006), The fall of Saigon, 1975, Australian Government, archived from the original on 12 February 2014, By early 1975, Australia had opened a diplomatic mission in North Vietnam as well as the embassy in South Vietnam. In March, Graeme Lewis, the chargé d'affaires in Hanoi, flew to Vientiane to meet David Wilson, who was about to become the first ambassador in Hanoi.
^Edwards, Peter (1 May 2006), "The fall of Saigon, 1975", Speech delivered at the National Archives of Australia, Australian Government, archived from the original on 27 February 2012
^Edwards, Peter (1 May 2006), The fall of Saigon, 1975, Australian Government, archived from the original on 12 February 2014, By early 1975, Australia had opened a diplomatic mission in North Vietnam as well as the embassy in South Vietnam. In March, Graeme Lewis, the chargé d'affaires in Hanoi, flew to Vientiane to meet David Wilson, who was about to become the first ambassador in Hanoi.
^Payne, Marise (22 March 2022). "Ambassador to Vietnam" (Press release). Minister for Foreign Affairs, Australian Government. Archived from the original on 21 March 2022. Retrieved 6 October 2022.
^Wong, Penny (30 September 2022). "Ambassador to Vietnam" (Press release). Minister for Foreign Affairs, Australian Government. Archived from the original on 30 September 2022. Retrieved 6 October 2022.
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