Ms Elizabeth Ward

Ms Ward is a senior career officer with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT). She is currently First Assistant Secretary of the Trade Resilience, Indo-Pacific Economic and Latin America Division. She is also Australia’s Ambassador for Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) and Australia’s Chief Negotiator for the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework. 

Ms Ward was most recently Australian Consul-General in Hong Kong. Ms Ward has a strong background in trade policy - she has served as First Assistant Secretary in each of the specialist trade divisions in DFAT, was Chief Negotiator for Australia for the 12-party Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiation, and Chief Negotiator for the Australia-Hong Kong Free Trade Agreement. Ms Ward has served in Washington DC, New Delhi and Cairo.

Ms Ward holds a Master of Development Studies from Deakin University; a Bachelor of Economics; and a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) from the Australian National University.