[3] Ultimately, by 1991, he was posted as the first assistance secretary at the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (PM&C); a job he continued until 1993.
[5][6] As an advisor to Keating, Gyngell led secret negotiations between Australia and Indonesia, leading to the 1995 Australia-Indonesia Security Agreement.
[7] Gyngell was also a founding executive director of the Lowy Institute as well as being offered an honorary professorship at the Australian National University (ANU) from 2003.
[5][3] As part of his retirement, the Australian Institute of International Affairs (AIIA) appointed him their national president in September 2017, succeeding Kim Beazley.
[1][8] In the 2009 Queen's Birthday Honours, Gyngell was conferred the status of an Officer in the Order of Australia (AO) "for service to international relations through contributions to the development of public and governmental debate on foreign and security policy".