Heidi Venamore

Heidi Venamore
.
Australian Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates
Incumbent
Assumed office
22 January 2020 (2020-01-22)
Preceded byArthur Spyrou
Australian Ambassador to Jordan
In office
2012 (2012) – 2016 (2016)
Personal details
Alma mater
ProfessionDiplomat

Heidi Venamore is an Australian diplomat and a painter of botanical art. She was Australia's Ambassador to Jordan from 2012 to 2016 and Australian Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates from 2020 to 2024. Venamore also painted Australia's official gift to Queen Elizabeth II on the occasion of the latter's platinum jubilee. In 2023, Venamore was awarded the Defence Overseas Service Medal. In 2024, she became the chair of the council of England's Marlborough College.

Early life and education

Venamore obtained a bachelor of arts and a bachelor of laws from the University of Queensland.[1] She also obtained a master of laws (LLM) in international law from the University of Cambridge and a graduate diploma in foreign affairs and trade from the Australian National University.[1]

Career

Foreign Affairs

Venamore began her career at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade serving in various roles, including as an executive in the legal branch.[2] Her overseas postings included Deputy Head of Mission in Baghdad,[3] Head of Political and Trade branch in London,[3] and Head of Mission in Amman. She was also the Assistant Secretary of the department responsible for Counter Terrorism.[2]

In 2006, Venamore was in the news when her emails were quoted in the Cole Inquiry into Australia's oil-for-wheat scandal.[4][5][6] The same year, she was featured in a DFAT exhibition about women in the foreign service, contrasting the treatment of some of the earlier and later female public servants.[7]

In 2012, she was appointed Australian Ambassador to Jordan,[8] serving in the role until 2016.[1] In 2020, she was made Australian Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates,[9][10] a role in which she served until 2024.[1] In 2021, Venamore led a delegation of top military brass to improve relations with the UAE, meeting with the Minister of State for Defence Affairs.[11]

In 2024, she became the chair of the council for the prominent English public school, Marlborough College.

Artist

Venamore is also a painter specialising in botanical art.[1][12] A painting by Venamore was the top piece in a charity auction in Herefordshire in 2017.[13] She also painted two paintings that Jordan gave to Prince Charles on his 70th birthday.[1] She is a fellow of the Linnaean Society.[1]

Venamore painted a painting of roses, that were named for the Queen Elizabeth II.[12] Her painting was Australia's gift to the Queen for the Queen's platinum jubilee.[1][3][12] The Queen had the painting hung in her private study.[12][3]

Awards and honours

In 2004, Venamore was awarded the Public Service Medal (PSM) for foreign service.[14][15]

In 2023, she was awarded the Defence Overseas Service Medal for the part she played in the evacuation of 4,000 people from Afghanistan in 2021.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "Biography of Heidi Venamore". Marlborough College. Retrieved 23 April 2026.
  2. 1 2 "Ambassador to United Arab Emirates". Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Retrieved 13 June 2020.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Harris, Rob (19 September 2022). "Queen cherished rose painting by Australian envoy". World. Brisbane Times. Venamore is an acclaimed botanic artist who paints in her spare time. Over a distinguished diplomatic career, she has served as ambassador to Jordan, as head of the political/trade branch at the Australian High Commission in London and deputy head of mission in Baghdad.
  4. ↑ Overington, Caroline (30 August 2006). "New note blows lid on AWB". Local. The Australian. p. 1.
  5. ↑ Overington, Caroline; Sexton, Jennifer (11 May 2006). "Aussie diplomat told jig was up on Iraq bribes". The Australian. p. 2. A senior Australian diplomat has admitted that she was told two years ago that the 'jig is up' on the AWB's corrupt dealings with Iraq but did not pursue the matter. Heidi Venamore, who was deputy head of Australia's mission in Baghdad after the invasion of Iraq... She has also conceded that Colonel Kelly made some 'offhand remarks'... But she said: 'I did not consider his opinion appropriate for reporting'.
  6. ↑ Weisser, Rebecca (8 April 2006). "Don't blame me, it's them". The Weekend Australian. Australia. p. 21. DFAT officers continued to consider AWB above suspicion even when DFAT officer Heidi Venamore cabled Canberra to advise that the documents left behind after the fall of Saddam revealed that every contract negotiated by the Iraqis under the oil-for-food program since 2000 included an illegal payment of 10 per cent to 19 per cent.
  7. ↑ "Fighting for their rights". Manly Daily. Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. 16 May 2006. p. 13. Compare the experience of Heidi Venamore, deputy head of Australia's diplomatic headquarters in Iraq in 2003 and 2004 and more recently a witness at the AWB inquiry, with that of Julia Drake-Brockman... one of Australia's first female diplomatic cadets recruited by the then Department of External Affairs.... The experiences of Venamore and her pioneering predecessor are contained within the Women Working for Australia exhibition compiled by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade to mark the 30th anniversary of International Year of Women.
  8. ↑ "Rudd appoints new Jordan envoy". The Australian Financial Review. Fairfax Media. AAP. 30 January 2012. Retrieved 13 June 2020.
  9. ↑ "Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation receives copy of credentials of new Australian Ambassador to UAE". Emirates News Agency. 22 January 2020. Retrieved 1 December 2022.
  10. ↑ "Career Diplomats Clean Up in End-of-Year Postings". News. Canberra Times. 17 December 2019. p. 9.
  11. ↑ Greene, Andrew (8 July 2021). "Australia pushes close military ties with United Arab Emirates despite war crime concerns". ABC. Retrieved 23 April 2026.
  12. 1 2 3 4 Harris, Rob (20 September 2022). "Gift of a Painting of Roses and Wattle". The Age. Melbourne, Australia. p. 6. The late Queen was so taken with a gift from Australia's governor-general - a botanic painting of roses named in her honour and a golden wattle - that she had it hung in her private study at Balmoral during her final days. The present, commissioned for her platinum jubilee in June this year, was painted by senior Australian diplomat Heidi Venamore, who now serves as ambassador to the United Arab Emirates.... Venamore is an acclaimed botanic artist who paints in her spare time.
  13. ↑ Morris, Ian (23 November 2017). "Postcards Pull in Pounds". Hereford Times. p. 35. Retrieved 23 April 2026 – via newspapers.com.
  14. ↑ "Howard in lightning visit to Iraq". The Canberra Times. Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 26 April 2004. p. 2.
  15. ↑ "Queen's Birthday Honours". The Courier-Mail. Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. 14 June 2004. p. 9.
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