Former Australian diplomat and public servant Philip Flood AO (b. 1935) gained a Bachelor of Economics (Hons) degree at the University of Sydney before joining the Australian Government's Department of External Affairs in 1958. His early postings included the Australian mission to the European Economic Community in Brussels, the Australian Embassy in Paris, and Australia's High Commissioner to Bangladesh; in 1976 Flood was appointed to the Australian Embassy in the USA, then head of Special Trade Representations and in 1985 he became the Deputy Secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT). From 1989 until 1993, he served as Ambassador to Indonesia. Flood is the only person to have headed the Australian Agency for International Development AusAID (1993–1995), the Office of National Assessments (1995–1996) and DFAT (1996–1998). For the last three years of his professional career, he served as Australian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom. Following his retirement in 2000, Flood has served as director and chair of the Australia Indonesia Institute, deputy chair of CARE Australia, deputy chair of Asialink, member of the Foreign Affairs Council, and national president of the Order of Australia Association. Flood also headed inquiries into immigration detention centres, Australian intelligence agencies and plasma fractionation. In his 2011 autobiography Dancing with Warriors: A Diplomatic Memoir, he reviewed his 50-year career working in Australian foreign and trade policy.
