Geoffrey Forrester

Geoffrey Forrester, was the first team leader of Australia’s economic governance advisory facility set up following the Asian Financial Crisis. 

For most of his career, Forrester was a public servant and diplomat. He was considered to be one of the foremost Indonesian specialists in the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and played an important role in improving the climate of cooperation between Indonesia-Australia.

Mr Forrester was fluent in Bahasa Indonesia and Javanese, and acted as interpreter for former Australian Prime Minister Gough Whitlam and Indonesia’s President Suharto in a number of important bilateral meetings. He undertook diplomatic postings in Jakarta and Port Moresby, and established a private consultancy firm in Jakarta where he spent the last nine years of his life.