[1] With the establishment of a resident Australian High Commission on Nauru's admission to the Commonwealth of Nations in 1972, the position also had responsibility as the Commissioner for the Gilbert and Ellice Islands (1972–1976) and the Gilbert Islands (1976–1979), and then as the non-resident accredited high commissioner to Kiribati from 1979.

In 1981, The Australian Government announced that it would open a resident High Commission in Kiribati, which was achieved in August 1982.

With the independence of the Solomon Islands in 1978, the resident Australian High Commission was established on 7 July 1978.

In December 1981, career diplomat Rodney Hodgson was announced as the next high commissioner to Nauru.

[3][4][5] When the new Commonwealth government of Prime Minister John Howard cut the budget of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade in 1996–97, forcing the closure of the High Commission in Nauru, in July 1997, accreditation for Nauru was transferred to the high commission in Suva, Fiji.