Jocelyn Chey is Visiting Professor in the School of Languages and Cultures, University of Sydney, and Adjunct Professor in the Australia-China Institute for Arts and Culture, Western Sydney University and the Australia-China Relations Institute, University of Technology Sydney. Her current research fields include cultural diplomacy with relevance to China and Taiwan, and the cultural aspects of Chinese humour. She has co-authored and co-edited two books on the latter subject and published widely on cultural diplomacy and Chinese international relations.
Jocelyn was one of the earliest students in Australia to take up Chinese language studies in the 1950s. She completed her Master degree at the University of Hong Kong and her Doctor degree at the University of Sydney.
In 1973 she was appointed China Relations Officer in the Department of Overseas Trade, before being posted to Beijing as the first Australian Cultural Counsellor in 1975. She was the first Executive Director of the Australia-China Council 1979-1984, Senior Trade Commissioner in Beijing 1985-88 and Consul General to Hong Kong 1992-95. From 1988 to 1992 she was the Director of the China Branch of the International Wool Secretariat.
Jocelyn Chey is a Councillor of the Australian Institute for International Affairs New South Wales. She was awarded the Australia-China Council Medal for contributions to the development of relations between Australia and China in 2008 and in 2009 honoured with the Medal of Australia and also made a Fellow of the Institute of International Affairs.