Tonia Louise Shand (6 November 1939 – 15 July 2020) was an Australian diplomat and public servant, who served as Australia's first woman High Commissioner to Sri Lanka from 1988 to 1991.

Early life and education

Shand was born Tonia Louise Moffat in Britain in 1939 to Australian parents, Gordon and Marjorie Moffatt. She and her mother moved to

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/ Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a me ...

, Victoria when

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 ...

began, while her civil engineer father was posted to Singapore with the Royal Air Force where he built airfields. Shand graduated from the

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne is a public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in Victoria. Its main campus is located in Parkville, an inner suburb n ...

with a BA, majoring in German and political science.

Career

Following graduation, Shand joined the

Department of External Affairs In many countries, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the government department responsible for the state's diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral relations affairs as well as for providing support for a country's citizens who are abroad. The entit ...

(now

DFAT The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) is the department of the Australian federal government responsible for foreign policy and relations, international aid (using the branding Australian Aid), consular services and trade and inv ...

) and she was posted to Tel Aviv, Bonn, Geneva and Stockholm. The

marriage bar A marriage bar is the practice of restricting the employment of married women. Common in Western countries from the late 19th century to the 1970s, the practice often called for the termination of the employment of a woman on her marriage, espe ...

that existed in the Australian public service at the time forced her to resign when she married Richard (Ric or Ricky) Shand, however she was able to return in a temporary capacity until the birth of their daughter Brigit in October 1964. In 1973 she, a married woman with a child, was given permission to join the staff of the High Commission in Delhi, India from 1973 to 1975. Her next overseas posting was as Deputy High Commissioner in Kuala Lumpur from 1979 to 1982. In 1983, she became the first woman in Australia to be appointed Chief of Protocol. In 1985, while Assistant Secretary of the Peace and Disarmament Branch of the Department of Foreign Affairs, she was appointed by

Bill Hayden William George Hayden (born 23 January 1933) is an Australian politician who served as the 21st governor-general of Australia from 1989 to 1996. He was Leader of the Labor Party and Leader of the Opposition from 1977 to 1983, and served as ...

to the Consultative Committee on Peace and Disarmament, a 19-member committee convened to prepare for the International Year of Peace in 1986. In 1988, three years after the death of her daughter, she was posted by Michael Duffy to Sri Lanka as High Commissioner. She was the first woman to fill that role, which also included non-resident High Commissioner to the Maldives. Shand was appointed a

Member of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian ...

in the 1990 Queen's Birthday Honours. In 2005, she was interviewed by Michael Wilson for the National Library of Australia's ''Australian diplomats 1950–2000 collection''. She died in Canberra on 15 July 2020. Her husband had predeceased her in 2014.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shand, Tonia 1939 births 2020 deaths University of Melbourne alumni Australian women diplomats High Commissioners of Australia to Sri Lanka High Commissioners of Australia to the Maldives Members of the Order of Australia 20th-century Australian public servants Australian women ambassadors 20th-century Australian women