The Embassy of Australia in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

is the

diplomatic mission A diplomatic mission or foreign mission is a group of people from a state or organization present in another state to represent the sending state or organization officially in the receiving or host state. In practice, the phrase usually den ...

of the

Commonwealth of Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...

to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

. The chancery is temporarily located in the National Geographic Building at 1145 17th Street NW. This temporary location will serves as the embassy for the next three years while the one on

Scott Circle Scott Circle is an area in the northwest quadrant of Washington, D.C. that is centred on the junction of Massachusetts Avenue, Rhode Island Avenue, and 16th Street, N.W. Originally a neighborhood recreational area, unlike Dupont Circle where poli ...

is demolished to make way for a brand new chancery to be unveiled in 2022. The current

ambassador An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or sov ...

of Australia to the United States is

Arthur Sinodinos Arthur Sinodinos (born 25 February 1957) is an Australian diplomat and former Liberal Party politician who has been Ambassador to the United States since February 2020. He served as Chief of Staff to Prime Minister John Howard from 1997 to 200 ...

, Australian diplomat and former politician, who succeeded

Joe Hockey Joseph Benedict Hockey (born 2 August 1965) is a former Australian politician and diplomat. He was the Member of Parliament for North Sydney from 1996 until 2015. He was the Treasurer of Australia in the Abbott Government from 18 September 20 ...

in 2020. He resides at the Australian ambassador's residence located at 3120 Cleveland Avenue, NW. The current Deputy Head of Mission is

Paul Myler Paul may refer to: *Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name) *Paul (surname), a list of people People Christianity *Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chris ...

. In addition to the embassy, Australian

consulates A consulate is the office of a consul. A type of diplomatic mission, it is usually subordinate to the state's main representation in the capital of that foreign country (host state), usually an embassy (or, only between two Commonwealth count ...

are located in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

Honolulu Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the islan ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wor ...

, and

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

Chancery

The chancery has featured

Australian wine The Australian wine industry is one of the world's largest exporters of wine, with approximately 800 million out of the 1.2 to 1.3 billion litres produced annually exported to overseas markets. The wine industry is a significant contributor ...

tastings, exhibitions of ceramics by

Gwyn Hanssen Pigott Gwyn Hanssen Pigott OAM (1935–2013) was an Australian ceramic artist. She was recognized as one of Australia’s most significant contemporary artists. By the time she died she was regarded as "one of the world's greatest contemporary potter ...

, sketches of World War II soldiers by

Louis Kahan Louis Kahan AO (25 May 190516 July 2002) was an Austrian-born Australian artist whose long career included fashion design, illustration for magazines and journals, painting, printmaking and drawing. He is represented in most major collections i ...

, paintings of

Aboriginal Aborigine, aborigine or aboriginal may refer to: *Aborigines (mythology), in Roman mythology * Indigenous peoples, general term for ethnic groups who are the earliest known inhabitants of an area *One of several groups of indigenous peoples, see ...

women, and paintings of the

Outback The Outback is a remote, vast, sparsely populated area of Australia. The Outback is more remote than the bush. While often envisaged as being arid, the Outback regions extend from the northern to southern Australian coastlines and encompass a ...

Ben Shearer Ben Shearer (born 1941 in Adelaide, South Australia) is an Australian artist who specializes in watercolor painting of the Outback. History When Shearer was six years old, an injury during a game of cricket resulted in blindness of his right eye ...

. A gallery located inside the embassy is open from 10am until 2pm on weekdays. In January 2015 it was reported that the chancery's condition was deteriorating, and that scaffolding and cladding had been erected to prevent parts of the façade from injuring people if they dislodged from the building. At this time the Government was considering options to repair it. A decision was made in 2015 to demolish the chancery and replace it with a new building at a cost of $A236.9 million. Work on the project is scheduled to commence in 2019 with the building being completed in late 2021.

Bakers Creek Memorial

Previously located behind the chancery building was a memorial to the

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

soldiers who died during the

Bakers Creek air crash The Bakers Creek air crash was an aviation disaster that occurred on 14 June 1943, when a United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress aircraft crashed at Bakers Creek, Queensland, Australia. The aircraft took off from Mackay ...

, the deadliest air disaster in Australian history. Because host countries typically exercise limited jurisdiction over embassies, the Bakers Creek Memorial Association petitioned American politicians to relocate the memorial to

Arlington National Cemetery Arlington National Cemetery is one of two national cemeteries run by the United States Army. Nearly 400,000 people are buried in its 639 acres (259 ha) in Arlington, Virginia. There are about 30 funerals conducted on weekdays and 7 held on Sa ...

. Senators

Arlen Specter Arlen Specter (February 12, 1930 – October 14, 2012) was an American lawyer, author and politician who served as a United States Senator from Pennsylvania from 1981 to 2011. Specter was a Democrat from 1951 to 1965, then a Republican fr ...

and

Bob Casey, Jr. Robert Patrick Casey Jr. (born April 13, 1960) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the senior United States senator from Pennsylvania, a seat he has held since 2007. A member of the Democratic Party, Casey previously served as Pe ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; (Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, Ma ...

inserted language into the 2008 defense authorization bill to relocate the memorial. On June 11, 2009, a dedication ceremony took place at the memorial's new home in

Fort Myer Fort Myer is the previous name used for a U.S. Army post next to Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington County, Virginia, and across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C. Founded during the American Civil War as Fort Cass and Fort Whippl ...

, Virginia, near the Selfridge Gate to

References

External links

Official website2011 ANZAC Lecture
{{DEFAULTSORT:Embassy of Australia, Washington, D.C. Government buildings completed in 1969 Australia

Modernist architecture in Washington, D.C. Office buildings in Washington, D.C. Australia–United States relations Australia Buildings and structures demolished in 2020 Demolished buildings and structures in Washington, D.C.

Chancery

Bakers Creek Memorial

See also

References

External links