Melanie Harris

Melanie Harris is a proud Indigenous woman of the Yuin people. She is Australia’s first female Indigenous Trade and Investment Commissioner and is based in Kuala Lumpur since 2021.

Melanie’s role is to develop Australia’s trade, investment and education relationships with Malaysia and Brunei. Melanie also leads Austrade’s regional health sector team developing greater collaboration and partnerships between Southeast Asian nations and Australia.

Melanie is also Austrade’s Indigenous champion, with a primary focus on exploring opportunities to provide Indigenous businesses with the capabilities to become export ready and increase the number of Indigenous businesses participating in international markets.

Melanie has held a number of positions with the Australian Trade and Investment Commission (Austrade) over the past 16 years. Prior to taking up her role in Malaysia, she led the Trade, Investment, Digital and Business Capability Development Program on behalf of Federal and State/Territory governments, ensuring Australians working in Trade and Investment have the skills of the future, now. Melanie has a background in human resources, change management and project delivery.