OECD Delegation

Australia maintains a Permanent Delegation to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in Paris. The delegation is currently led by Mr Brendan Pearson, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Australia to the OECD (details below). Australian agencies represented are:  

The OECD, based in Paris, was established in 1961. The Organisation provides independent and evidence-based analysis to help improve the economic and social well-being of citizens in its member countries and globally. The OECD does not have executive or financial powers; it relies on persuasion and consensus, and derives its relevance to member countries from its high quality analysis of economic, social and environmental policy.

Australia has been an active member of the OECD since 1971, although initial links to the OECD were established through the OECD’s Development Assistance Committee (DAC) in 1966. In 2011, Australia celebrated its 40th anniversary of membership. This was the same year that the OECD, established in 1961, celebrated its 50th anniversary. In 2016, Australia also celebrated 50 years of membership in the DAC. Australia is one of a group of 35 like-minded countries working toward a more harmonious functioning of the world economy.

Australia takes a strong interest in a wide range of OECD activities and the OECD's analysis plays an influential role in policy debates in Australia. Australia adheres to OECD instruments and conventions and experts from the Australian Government, academia, non-government organisations and the private sector regularly attend specialist committee meetings to put forward Australia’s views and hear other members’ views.

Follow the Australian Delegation to the OECD on  Twitter: @AusOECD

For further information on Australia and the OECD, visit the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade's Australia and the OECD page.

For further information on the OECD, visit the OECD website.

Brendan Pearson

Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Australia to the OECD

Brendan Pearson has been Australian Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the OECD since October 2021.  From June 2019 to September 2021 he served as Senior Adviser (International – Trade and Investment) to the Prime Minister of Australia, Scott Morrison MP and earlier Senior Adviser to then Minister for Finance, Senator Mathias Cormann. 

Brendan has more than three decades’ experience in diplomacy, trade negotiations media and business representation in Australia, East Asia and the United States.  This includes more than 9 years in senior roles at the Minerals Council of Australia, including 4 years as the chief executive. Brendan also served as an Australian diplomat in Washington DC, as Lead Negotiator on Services in the Doha Round and as the North Asia correspondent for the Australian Financial Review based in Tokyo. Brendan has also served as a Visiting Scholar at the Department of Politics and International Studies at the University of Cambridge. Brendan has a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) degree from the Australian National University and a Master of Philosophy in International Relations from the University of Cambridge.