Dara is the Deputy Head of the Australian Space Agency. She has over 15 years of Senior Executive Service experience in the Australian Public Service. Dara’s previous roles span organisational and change leadership, public administration, international diplomacy, national security and intelligence.

At the Office of National Intelligence (ONI) from 2020 to 2022, Dara led major strategic projects related to the national intelligence community. Before this, she headed a division at the Australian Signals Directorate. In earlier roles, Dara led the Open Source Centre and managed implementation of aspects of the Independent Intelligence Review 2017.

Before joining the intelligence community, Dara was a career diplomat with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT). She held the position of minister-counsellor (political) at the Australian embassy in Tokyo from 2012 to 2015. Dara had an earlier posting to Australia’s permanent delegation to the World Trade Organisation in Geneva from 1999 to 2002. She was departmental liaison officer in the office of the Minister for Trade from 2002 to 2004.

Dara has undergraduate degrees in law and economics and a Master of Foreign Affairs and Trade. She speaks and reads Japanese proficiently.