Sir Nicholas Fancourt Parkinson (5 December 1925 – 12 September 2001) was a senior Australian Public Servant.

Nick Parkinson was born in England on 5 December 1925, migrating to Australia with his family when his father was appointed headmaster of King's School Parramatta.

[2] Rising up the ranks, he was appointed a Deputy Secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs in 1974.

[3] Before departing on the post, he said that it was "enormously important" to keep in touch with American thinking on the Soviet Union, the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks, China and Japan.

[6] In 1979, he left his Secretary role to return to the United States as Australian Ambassador once again.