History of Consulate General of India, Melbourne

Territorial jurisdiction: Victoria and Tasmania

• The Consulate General of India was established in Melbourne on 01 September 2006 to extend consular services and to augment cultural and economic relations between India and the States of Victoria and Tasmania.
• Before September 2006, the work was being done by an Honorary Consul General.
• The Consulate was initially located at 15 Munro Street Coburg. It was later shifted to the present location: 344 St Kilda Road, Melbourne, in 2010.
• The Heads of Post in Melbourne have been as follows:

History of Consulate General of India, Perth

Territorial jurisdiction: Western Australia and Northern Territory

• The Consulate General of India in Perth was inaugurated by H.E. Mr S M Krishna, External Affairs Minister, Government of India on 26 October 2011. The inauguration function was attended by Australian Defence Minister H.E. Mr. Stephen Smith. Several State Ministers and Members of WA Parliament attended the function.
• Speaking at the Ceremony EAM said the state of Western Australia has a special role to play in the growth of strategic partnership between India and Australia.
• The opening of a Consulate General of India in Perth is testimony to the importance we attach to the relationship with Australia, and within Australia, to a state on an Ocean whose shores we share.
• The work looked after by CGI, Perth relates to commercial & trade related information and all consular services.

History of Consulate General of India, Sydney

Territorial jurisdiction : New South Wales and South Australia.

• The Consulate General of India was established in Sydney in 1941 as the Trade Commission of India.
• The First Trade Commissioner was Mr. R.R. Saxena of the Imperial Customs Service and was appointed to this Post from the afternoon of January 30, 1941. He presented his papers to the Australian Governor General on March 7, 1941.
• In 1948, Mr. G. Parameswaran Pillai became Independent India's first Trade Commissioner to Australia and New Zealand.
• In April 1968, the name of the Trade Commission was changed to the Deputy High Commission of India.
• In January 1973, the Deputy High Commission of India acquired its present name of Consulate General of India, Sydney.
• Available records indicate that the Trade Commission was first housed at 39 Martin Place, Sydney. It was then relocated to ‘Caltex House’ in Kent Street, Sydney, from where it moved in the mid-1980s to Walker Street in North Sydney.From 1994 to 2010, the Consulate was located at 25 Bligh Street in Sydney, and later relocated to 190 George Street and then to 109 Pitt Street in Sydney before moving to its current and permanent premises at Level 1, 265 Castlereagh Street in Sydney.

As per available records, the Heads of Post in Sydney have been as follows

Trade Commissioner

Deputy High Commissioner

Consul General