Embassy of Australia

United States of America

Embassy address: 1601 Massachusetts Ave, NW Washington DC 20036 - Telephone: (202) 797 3000 - Fax: (202) 797 3168

Embassy Events

Victoria Cross recipient Corporal Ben Roberts Smith visits Washington DC

Corporal Benjamin Roberts-Smith, VC, MG, lays a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery during a visit to Washington on Monday 13 February 2012.

Corporal Roberts Smith was awarded the Victoria Cross for Australia for his actions on 11 June 2010 in Kandahar Province, Afghanistan, as part of the Australian Special Air Service Regiment and the Special Operations Task Group. Full citation and biography

The Victoria Cross for Australia is the pre-eminent award for acts of bravery in wartime and Australia's highest military honour. It is awarded to persons who, in the presence of the enemy, display the most conspicuous gallantry; a daring or pre-eminent act of valour or self-sacrifice; or extreme devotion to duty.

Ambassador Kim Beazle (l) and Head of Australian Defence Staff, MAJGEN Tim McOwan (r) welcome Victorian Cross recipient CPL Ben Roberts-Smith to the Embassy - 13 Feb 2012

Ambassador Kim Beazley (l) and Head of Australian Defence Staff, MAJGEN Tim McOwan (r) welcome Victorian Cross recipient CPL Ben Roberts-Smith to the Embassy - 13 Feb 2012

Australia Day visit to National Aquarium, Baltimore

John Racanelli (centre), CEO National Aquarium introduces Ambassador Beazley (2nd from right) and his wife, Ms Susie Annus (far right), to one of the Aussie kookaburras the Animal Planet Australia: Wild Extremes exhibit at the National Aquarium in Baltimore

Ambassador Beazley and his wife, Ms Susie Annus, got a taste of Australia's unique outback environment on Australia Day when they visited the Animal Planet Australia: Wild Extremes exhibit at the National Aquarium in Baltimore.

Having travelled through Arnheim Land in Northern Territory, Ambassador Beazley described the faithful representation of the area as 'brilliant,' and marvelled at the opportunity to see the display of activity beneath the surface of the water as he walked through the exhibit.

The outback regions of Australia are very remote and often very harsh. Coupled with Australia's isolation as an island continent, there are many species unique to the area, and with fascinating characteristics that enable them to survive the extreme environment.

The Ambassador noted during his visit that a joint Australian-US scientific expeidition to Arnhem Land in 1948 (including the Smithsonian and National Geographic) identified 30,000 previously unidentified species. 120 different animals, and a variety of native plants, can be found at the National Aquarium in Baltimore.

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Embassy "Adopts" Thomson Elementary 5th graders

For over 40 years, the Embassy Adoption Program has opened the world up to children from the Washington DC public school system. Through personal connections with participating embassies, 5th and 6th graders focus on global diversity with special attention to the country that adopts them.

Cameron McCarthy (Cultural Affairs Officer from Australian Consulate in New York) recently spent the afternoon with our "adopted" class of 18 fifth graders from Strong John Thomson School in Washington DC. During the visit, the children learned songs and dances from The Daintree Rainforest in North Queensland. Cameron also taught the group a rhythm dance known as "28 Kulap" and a sit-down dance called "Taba Naba" from the Torres Strait Islands.

Cameron McCarthy shows the children how to move like emus (above) and how to jump like kangaroos to the sounds of his didgeridoo (below).

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Australian embassy helps "Clean Up The World"

On Saturday 17 September 2011, staff of the Embassy of Australia along with family and friends participated in a "Clean Up the World" project with the US National Park Service to clean up and stabilise a section of the Fort Circle Park National Recreation Trail near Fort Mahan. Embassy volunteers were also joined by students and faculty members from Georgetown University, George Mason University, and John Hopkins University.

Volunteers met at Fort Mahan Park, a historic site in NE Washington that once guarded the capital city during the Civil War against approaches across the Anacostia River. 2011 marks the 150th anniversary of the commencement of the Civil War and the construction of Fort Mahan.

The Clean up the World Team collected rubbish, and raked, pruned, and weeded to clear and uplift the area. This enjoyable morning contributed to the broader goal of providing greenspace for hiking and biking in Anacostia, and a place where people can learn of the important history of the area. Clean Up the World Day encourages individuals and groups to take an active part in cleaning and beautifying their communities. It was all started by Australian Ian Kiernan with Clean Up Sydney Harbour Day in 1989, which became Clean Up Australia Day the following year. In 1993 the campaign went global with Clean Up the World Day now involving approximately 35 million people from 120 countries.