Frances Jennifer Adamson AC (born 20 April 1961) is an Australian public servant and diplomat who is the 36th Governor of South Australia, in office since 7 October 2021.

[3] She returned to Australia to work for the Department of Foreign Affairs in Canberra from 1998 until 2000, and then moved to Taipei where she was Representative to the Australian Commerce and Industry Office for five years.

[6][7][8][9] During her time there, the China-Australia Free Trade Agreement was negotiated and she has been credited with pushing the idea of partnership with the newly appointed Xi Jinping, allowing the "political and diplomatic relationships" between the two countries to "finally" catch up with the economic one.

In her final address, as Secretary DFAT, at the National Press Club, on 23 June 2021, Adamson warned of Chinese "insecurity and power" and advised that Australia "needs to know what it is we’re dealing with".

Adamson commented that Beijing was driven by the “volatile combination” of power and insecurity and there was no chance of its outlook changing in the short-term as it suffered from a “siege mentality”.

The IPAA event was held after the completion of the Commonwealth Ombudsman Investigation into Robodebt in April 2017 and the subsequent First Senate committee inquiry which began in March 2017.