Former NSW Labor leader and long-time Australia-India advocate Jodi McKay has been appointed Australia’s new Senior Trade and Investment Commissioner for South Asia, taking up the senior diplomatic-commercial posting in Mumbai.

The Australian Trade and Investment Commission, Austrade, announced the appointment on Friday, saying Ms McKay would focus on strengthening Australia’s commercial relationships across India and the broader South Asian region.

Ms McKay brings an unusual combination of political, business and Australia-India experience to the position, having spent 15 years in the NSW Parliament before taking on several senior roles focused on the bilateral relationship.

Austrade confirmed she will be based in Mumbai and work closely with Australia’s consuls-general and High Commission officials to deepen relationships with governments, businesses and other stakeholders across South Asia.

Her appointment comes as Australia seeks to turn increasingly close political ties with India into substantially greater trade and investment.

From NSW politics to Australia-India business

Before joining Austrade, Ms McKay was director of the Australia-India CEO Forum at the Business Council of Australia.

The forum brings together senior Australian and Indian business leaders and provides advice to both governments on policies that could increase trade and investment.

It was established by the two countries’ prime ministers, has operated since 2012 and was relaunched by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2023. The Business Council of Australia serves as its Australian secretariat.

The forum was again in the spotlight during Mr Modi’s Melbourne visit in July, when the two prime ministers addressed business leaders at its 2026 meeting.

Business Council chief executive Bran Black described India at the time as one of Australia’s most important economic partnerships.

Ms McKay previously served as national chair of the Australia India Business Council, becoming one of the organisation’s most visible advocates for stronger commercial and diaspora links between the countries.

During her tenure, she argued Australia’s Indian diaspora should be viewed as a “living bridge” capable of helping expand the economic relationship.

She was also appointed to the inaugural advisory board of the Centre for Australia-India Relations, established by the federal government to deepen business, policy, cultural and community links with India.

Ms McKay has also been Vice-Chancellor’s Fellow for South Asia at Western Sydney University and served as a director on government and non-government boards including Destination NSW and Business Events Sydney.

She holds a Master of Public Administration from the University of Sydney.

15 years in NSW Parliament

Before moving into Australia-India relations, Ms McKay had a lengthy career in NSW politics.

She spent 15 years in the NSW Parliament, serving as a cabinet minister and later becoming leader of the NSW Labor Party and NSW Opposition.

Her transition from state politics into Australia-India engagement accelerated after leaving Parliament, including through her leadership of AIBC and subsequent work with the CEO Forum.

Austrade said that experience would now underpin her work across South Asia.

As Senior Trade and Investment Commissioner, Ms McKay will be one of Australia’s most senior trade officials in the region and will lead Austrade’s efforts to connect Australian businesses with commercial and investment opportunities.

India trade relationship continues to grow

The appointment comes at an important stage in Australia’s economic relationship with India.

India is Australia’s fifth-largest trading partner, with two-way trade in goods and services worth $50.2 billion in 2025, according to the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

Australian exports to India were worth about $32 billion, while imports totalled $18 billion.

At the end of 2025, Australia’s investment stock in India stood at $26.8 billion, while Indian investment in Australia was valued at $45.3 billion.

The relationship has expanded since the Australia-India Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement, known as ECTA, entered into force in December 2022.

More than 90 per cent of Australian goods exports to India by value will eventually have tariffs eliminated or reduced under the agreement, while all Indian imports into Australia are now tariff-free.

There have also been sharp increases in some Australian exports.

Australian agricultural exports to India rose from $1 billion in 2022 to $2.3 billion in 2025, while industrial exports excluding coal increased from $6 billion to $10.2 billion over the same period.

The two governments are continuing negotiations on the more ambitious Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement, or CECA, intended to build on ECTA and further liberalise the economic relationship.

Bigger task than India alone

While Ms McKay’s recent career has been closely associated with India, her new Austrade position covers the broader South Asian region.

That means her responsibilities will extend beyond the bilateral relationship and include building commercial connections across one of the world’s fastest-growing regions.

Austrade said she would focus on developing deeper relationships with key stakeholders and work closely with Australia’s diplomatic network.

Her Mumbai base places her in India’s commercial capital at a time when Australian governments are increasingly encouraging businesses to look beyond traditional markets and pursue opportunities in India.

The federal government’s New Roadmap for Australia’s Economic Engagement with India, launched in 2025, identified clean energy, education and skills, agribusiness and tourism as four major “superhighways of growth”, alongside opportunities in other sectors.

India’s scale remains central to that strategy. The country has a population of about 1.4 billion and recorded economic growth of 6.5 per cent in 2024, with Australian officials identifying opportunities across resources, education, agriculture, energy, healthcare, infrastructure, financial services, science and technology.

For Ms McKay, the Austrade appointment represents the next stage of a career that has moved from NSW politics to increasingly senior roles at the centre of Australia’s economic engagement with India.

She will now be tasked with converting those relationships into something successive Australian governments have identified as a major economic objective — more Australian companies doing business in India and more two-way investment across the Australia-South Asia corridor.

Support our Journalism

No-nonsense journalism. No paywalls. Whether you’re in Australia, the UK, Canada, the USA, or India, you can support The Australia Today by taking a paid subscription via Patreon or donating via PayPal — and help keep honest, fearless journalism alive.