Hydrographer of Australia
Commodore Darryn Mullins, RAN
Commodore Darryn Mullins was born in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, and grew up on a cattle property northwest of Cairns, Queensland. He studied Law, was admitted as a solicitor to the Supreme Court of New South Wales in 1994, and joined the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) in 1995 as a Maritime Warfare Officer.
After initial training in HMA Ships Torrens, Darwin, Tarakan, Bendigo, and Flinders, he sub-specialised as a Maritime Geospatial Officer – Hydrographic. He was awarded the Gowlland Medal as the most consistently high achiever during the Officer’s Hydrographic Course. He then served in HMA Ships Leeuwin, Mermaid, and Melville, participating in operations in East Timor and Bougainville.
Commodore Mullins was recognised as a dual specialist Maritime Warfare Officer/Legal Officer in 1999. He practiced as a Legal Officer in 2001-2002 while completing a Masters of Laws specialising in Environmental Law, Business and Management.
In 2003–2004, he participated in Operation Relex as a boarding officer, and subsequently as Operations Officer and Senior Assistant Surveyor of HS Red Crew embarked HMA Ship's Leeuwin and Melville. He completed a Post Graduate Diploma in Hydrographic Surveying through the University of Plymouth in the United Kingdom, and holds the 'Charge/Category A' Hydrographic Surveyor qualification.
As a Lieutenant Commander, he served as the Officer in Charge of the Deployable Geospatial Support Team, leading his team during Operation Sumatra Assist in Bande Aceh, Indonesia, in response to the devastation of the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami. He subsequently served as Commanding Officer of HMA Ship Shepparton from 2006–2007.
In his legal capacity, Commodore Mullins has held numerous senior operational and strategic legal positions including Director Navy Legal Service and Director Legal, Headquarters Joint Operations Command (J06).
Prior to his current appointment, he completed a Masters of National Security and Strategy at the Australian War College.
Darryn is married to Kym. They have one teenage and two adult children. He is an avid hiker, reader, trail runner and nature lover.