The Secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Michael L'Estrange, has announced the appointment of Mr Peter Baxter as the acting Director-General of AusAID from 4 July, 2009.
Peter Baxter is an experienced senior career officer with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT). He joined the Department in 1988. He has been on a number of overseas posting, most recently as Deputy Head of Mission in Washington from 2002 to 2005.
Prior to moving to AusAID, Mr Baxter headed DFAT's Consular, Public Diplomacy and Parliamentary Affairs Division. His previous Canberra assignments have included senior management roles heading the Consular and Passports (2000), Corporate Management (2000 to 2001), Market Development (2001 to 2002) and North Asia (2005 to 2008) Divisions with DFAT.
Mr Baxter holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree from the Australian National University. Born in 1959, he has two sons and one daughter.
Michael L'Estrange also took the opportunity to thank Bruce Davis for his leadership of AusAID since 1999. He said that Mr Davis has brought great professionalism, commitment and expertise to his responsibilities as Director-General.
The Director-General position will be advertised in due course.