Rear Admiral Ian Gordon Murray

Rear Admiral Ian Murray joined the Navy in January 1986 and graduated in the first Australian Defence Force Academy class. He served at sea as Maritime Logistics Officer and deployed to the Northern Arabian Gulf enforcing UN sanctions against Iraq. Ashore he has served in logistics roles, graduated from the Army Command & Staff College at Fort Queenscliff, worked as the Fleet’s Human Resource Manager (N1) and undertaken an exchange with the Ministry of Defence in the United Kingdom.

As a Captain he served as Director of Navy Logistics (N4) and Director of Logistics Operations (J43). Following the Defence and Strategic Studies Course in 2013, he was promoted to Commodore and served as Director General of Support (J1/J4) at Joint Operations Command before joining Joint Logistics Command as Director General Logistics Systems and then Deputy Commander. Rear Admiral Murray was promoted to be Commander Joint Logistics (Strategic J4) in June 2019. From April 2021 to July 2022 he acted in a 3-Star role as Chief of Joint Capabilities. Rear Admiral Murray was appointed as the Australian Defence Attaché to the United States of America and Head of the Australian Defence Staff – Washington (HADS-W) in January 2023.

Rear Admiral Murray is a recent Chairperson of Australian Defence Force Rugby Union, and Director of Defence Bank Ltd and a previous Chairperson of Navy Canteens. He is a Certified Professional of the Australian Human Resources Institute, a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport Australia and a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. He holds a Bachelor of Arts (Econ), Graduate Diploma in Human Resource Management, Master of Defence Studies, Master of Arts and Master of Business Administration. He was made a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in 2022. Rear Admiral Murray is married to Katie, a physiotherapist who hails from Suffolk in England. They have three adult children – Oliver, Lydia and Gus. His interests include travelling, cycling, rugby, gardening and DIY projects set by Katie.