The number of Australian overseas diplomats declined during the pandemic crisis
The latest report addresses the impact of the pandemic crisis on Australia’s diplomacy. The number of diplomats abroad dropped from 897 in June 2017 to 833 in June 2020. The document lists the following reasons for the less interest for postings abroad:
“Extended lockdowns, sustained workload pressures, and limited or no opportunities for respite or travel to Australia, are a feature of many Covid-era postings.”
The only sector that increased is consular and crisis response service.
The Report also highlighted ‘the provision of regular high-quality social media content” of Australian missions that manage 280 active social media accounts globally, with a total of about 4.6 million followers.
