Sri Lanka High Commissioner - Canberra

BIOGRAPHY

High Commissioner Ms. Yasoja Gunasekera is a senior career diplomat of the Sri Lanka Foreign Service and has served as High Commissioner of Sri Lanka to Australia since April 2025, with concurrent accreditation to Fiji, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, and Vanuatu.

She joined the Sri Lanka Foreign Service in 1996 and has served in a range of senior diplomatic and policy positions spanning bilateral, regional, and multilateral diplomacy. Her career includes postings in Asia and North America, as well as assignments at the Permanent Mission of Sri Lanka to the United Nations in New York and within key divisions of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, including Legal Affairs, South Asia, United Nations, West and Economic Affairs.

Prior to her current appointment, she served as Additional Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (2022–2025), where she played a key role in advancing Sri Lanka’s diplomatic engagements through high-level political consultations and participation in major international forums. She co-chaired Political Consultations with several partner countries, including Australia, and represented Sri Lanka in multilateral platforms such as the ASEAN-related meetings, the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA), and the Colombo Plan Consultative Committee Meeting.

From 2019 to 2022, she served as Ambassador of Sri Lanka to Indonesia and Permanent Representative to the ASEAN Secretariat, strengthening bilateral relations and expanding Sri Lanka’s engagement with regional mechanisms, including participation in the Bali Democracy Forum, the Archipelagic and Island States (AIS) Forum, and the World Conference on Creative Economy.

She served as High Commissioner of Sri Lanka to Bangladesh (2015–2017), where she facilitated high-level visits and enhanced cooperation within SAARC and BIMSTEC frameworks. From 2012 to 2015, she was the inaugural Consul General of Sri Lanka in Guangzhou, China, where she established the mission and expanded Sri Lanka’s engagement across five Chinese provinces, promoting trade, tourism, and cultural cooperation.

She holds an LLB (Hons) in Law from the University of Warwick, United Kingdom, and a Master of Arts in Foreign Affairs and Trade from Monash University, Australia.