Alan Sweetman joined the Centre in February 2011 and is a secondee from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT). His role is to align the Centre’s activities with Australia’s international policy priorities. Alan’s most recent overseas assignment was as Deputy Head of Mission and Chargé d’Affaires at the Australian Embassy in Kabul throughout 2009.
Alan has served at Australian diplomatic missions, and as DFAT representative within Australian whole-of-government presences on the ground, in a range of multinational/UN peacekeeping, stabilisation and post-conflict missions including East Timor throughout UNAMET, INTERFET and UNTAET phases (1999-2001), the Peace Monitoring Group in Bougainville (2002-2003), and a short-term mission to Iraq (2007). Alan was Deputy Head of Mission at the Australian Embassy in Athens (2004-2007) with responsibility for Albania and south-western Balkans conflict and peacekeeping issues. Alan also served at the Australian Embassy in Jakarta (1994-1996).
Alan’s Australian assignments have variously included work around Chemical and Biological Weapons proliferation, East Asian strategic issues, regional bilateral relationships and human rights. His most recent Australian position was as Director for APEC Human Security and Economic and Technical Cooperation, where he was the Australian representative and Co-Chair of the 21-economy Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Emergency Preparedness Working Group which advances disaster management and resilience coordination across the Asia Pacific. Alan has also been part of Australia’s electoral observation missions to parliamentary and presidential elections in Indonesia (1999), East Timor (1999, 2001, 2002) including as Chief Observer to elections in Albania (2005) and Afghanistan (2009).
Alan holds a Bachelor of Arts (in History) from Monash University and was also educated at Geelong Grammar School. He speaks Indonesian and Modern Greek at professional level. Alan’s hobbies include agriculture, rural livelihoods and land conservation issues.