Professor Matthew Neuhaus possesses more than four decades of distinguished service in diplomacy and international law. He has been Honorary Professor of International Law at the Australian National University College of Law, Governance and Policy since November 2022, following a career in the Australian foreign service that spanned the Middle East, Africa, the Pacific, the United Nations and Europe.

From August 2018 to October 2022, Professor Neuhaus served as Australian Ambassador to the Netherlands and as Permanent Representative to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons in The Hague. He also represented Australia at the International Court of Justice, the International Criminal Court, the Permanent Court of Arbitration, and other international legal bodies. His earlier diplomatic appointments included Australian Ambassador to Zimbabwe (2011–15), with concurrent accreditation to the Democratic Republic of Congo, Zambia, and Malawi, and High Commissioner to Nigeria (1997–2000), accredited also to Ghana, Sierra Leone, The Gambia, and Senegal.

Across his career he held senior positions within Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, covering Africa, the Middle East, the Pacific, the United Nations, multilateral engagement, and international law. From 2002 to 2008 he served as Director of the Political Affairs Division of the Commonwealth Secretariat in London, where he supported democratic governance, election observation, and conflict resolution across the Commonwealth. Earlier postings included Kenya, Papua New Guinea, and Australia’s Mission to the United Nations in New York (1991–94), where he represented Australia on the First and Sixth Committees and served as Vice-Chairman of the Sixth Committee. Since 2023 he has been President of the Royal Commonwealth Society, ACT and since 2025 Vice President of the United Nations Association of Australia, ACT Branch.

Professor Neuhaus holds a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) and Bachelor of Laws from the University of Sydney and a Master of Philosophy in International Relations from the University of Cambridge. He attended the Harvard Kennedy School Leaders in Development Program in 2006 and was a Visiting Fellow at the Lauterpacht Centre for International Law at Cambridge in 2015. His scholarship addresses international law, the United Nations system, Commonwealth reform and Africa.