Lisa Singh is a former Australian Senator and was the first woman of South Asian heritage to be elected to the Australian Parliament. She is also a former Tasmanian Member of Parliament and Minister in the Tasmanian Government. She is currently the CEO of the Australia India Institute at the University of Melbourne, and a scholar of international relations, human rights and gender equality. She leads a team at the Institute advancing Australia-India relations and Indo-Pacific engagement across key themes including education, sustainability, geopolitics and security and cultural diplomacy. She has previously served as Deputy Chair on the Australian Government’s Australia-India Council and on the advisory board of Asialink at the University of Melbourne. She is also a Board director of Beyond Blue, Australia’s well known mental health organisation, and a Fellow of the Australian Institute of International Affairs.
In 2014 she was awarded the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman by the President of India for building friendly Australia-India relations, the highest civilian honour for a person of Indian origin. Lisa is also the recipient of the University of Tasmania’s 2024 International Alumni Award. In 2016, representing Australia, Lisa was seconded to the United Nations General Assembly as an Australian government delegate. She continues to participate in multilateral and inter-country dialogues and hosts and chairs track 1.5 dialogues on key policy themes including clean energy and maritime security. Lisa holds a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) degree in Social Geography from the University of Tasmania and a Master of International Relations from Macquarie University.