Mr Williams is a senior officer with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and was most recently Assistant Secretary, National Foundation for Australia-China Relations.

Mr Williams has served overseas at the UN in New York and Australian Embassy in Thailand. He also worked for a period at the Australian Consulate-General in Hong Kong. His previous roles include Ministerial Adviser and Chief Negotiator for international climate and energy policy.

Mr Williams holds a Bachelor of Economics (Social Science) (Honours) degree from the University of Sydney.