Rear Admiral Nigel Perry
Nigel Perry joined the Royal Australian Naval College as a Junior Entry Cadet Midshipman in 1973. He trained as a seaman officer and his early postings included service in HMA Ships Melbourne, Vendetta, Vampire, Wewak, Moreton, Swan and Canberra. His staff positions have included service in the Directorate of Underwater Weapons, Directorate of Naval Officers Postings and as Commander Plans.
He served as executive officer of the frigate HMAS Sydney during the First Gulf War, for which he was awarded a Conspicuous Service Cross and also commanded the frigate HMAS Newcastle during 1995-96. He was Staff Officer to the Chief of Defence Forces and Deputy Navy Systems Commander. Following promotion to commodore in January 2003 he held the positions of Deputy Maritime Commander and Director General Maritime Development. He was a member of the ‘Tomorrow’s Navy Team.’
In 2007, following transfer to the RAN Reserve, Mr Perry joined the Australian Customs Service as a senior executive, firstly in Border Protection Command, before heading the Maritime Operations Support and then Border Force Divisions. Much of this work was in support of counter-people smuggling operations and capability management. Before leaving the then Customs and Border Protection Service in 2015, he laid the foundation for the future Australian Border Force, including leading the Border Force Taskforce.
He subsequently consulted to defence industry and led a Rapid Prototyping, Development & Evaluation task on ‘Ship Zero’. In 2016-17 he led a review of the ADF Summary Discipline System. In June 2018 he was promoted to Rear Admiral, RAN Reserve to head the implementation of the Review’s findings.
Rear Admiral Perry is a graduate of the Joint Services Staff Course and the USN Command College and holds a Masters of Business Administration.
Rear Admiral Nigel Perry was appointed as a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in the 2023 Australia Day honours list ‘for exceptional service to the RAN in senior command and management roles’.
