Since the United Kingdom’s Brexit referendum, the British government has fielded seven different home secretaries, seven foreign secretaries, nine education secretaries and eight culture secretaries. There have, however, been only two British ambassadors to Australia.

Both former High Commissioner to Australia Menna Rawlings and current High Commissioner Vicki Treadell have been highly respected departmental stalwarts lauded for quietly but substantively smoothing bilateral negotiations. But Treadell has been here since March 2019 and her term is soon to expire.