Allan Gyngell was appointed Director-General of the Office of National Assessments (ONA) in mid-2009 and retired in 2013.

Before his appointment to ONA, Mr Gyngell was the founding Executive Director of the Lowy Institute for International Policy (2003-09) in Sydney. He has a wide background in international policymaking and analysis and has written and spoken extensively on Australian foreign policy, on Asian regional relations and on the development of global and regional institutions. He is co-author (with Michael Wesley) of Making Australian Foreign Policy (Cambridge University Press, 2007).

Between 1993 and 1996, Gyngell was foreign policy adviser in the office of then-Australian prime minister Paul Keating, and from 1991 until 1993 was First Assistant Secretary in the International Division of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet.

Gyngell’s professional life began as an officer of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade which he joined in 1969. He served as a diplomat in Rangoon (1970-72), Singapore (1973-76) and Washington (1981-84).

Mr Gyngell is a graduate in history and political science from Melbourne University and is married with four adult sons. He is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of International Affairs.

He was appointed as an Officer in the Order of Australia in 2009 for service to international relations.