Foreign Minister Bob Carr today announced the appointment of Mr Craig Chittick as Australia's new Ambassador for People Smuggling Issues. Mr Chittick succeeds Mr James Larsen, who started in this role in February 2010 and is currently serving as Senator Carr's Principal Adviser.
The Ambassador for People Smuggling Issues is responsible for high-level advocacy of Australia's interests in promoting effective and practical international cooperation to combat people smuggling and trafficking in persons, particularly in the Asia-Pacific region.
The appointment underlines the Government's strong ongoing commitment to regional cooperation to combat people smuggling and trafficking in persons.
Mr Chittick will continue to promote closer regional cooperation through the Bali Process on People Smuggling, Trafficking in Persons and Related Transnational Crime, which Australia co-chairs with Indonesia.
Mr Chittick was most recently Australia's lead investment and services negotiator on the Malaysia-Australia Free Trade Agreement, and has served overseas as Deputy High Commissioner to Malaysia (2008-2011) and First Secretary and later Counsellor at the Australian Embassy in Jakarta (2000-2003).
He holds a Bachelor of Economics (Honours) from the University of Sydney and a Master of Arts in international relations from the Australian National University.
Mr Chittick, who speaks Indonesian, was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) on 17 October 2003 for his role in Bali in the aftermath of the 2002 bombings. He is married with three children.
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