Jim Ferguson

James Alexander Ferguson (29 November 1940 – 27 January 2026) was an Australian diplomat, senior public servant and sport administrator. He was executive director of the Australian Sports Commission between 1990 and 2000.

Background Ferguson was born in Sydney on 29 November 1940. Before and whilst completing his studies at the University of Sydney, he did a variety of jobs including jackaroo, taxi driver and publisher's editor. His grandfather was Sir John Alexander Ferguson (1881–1969), a notable Australian judge and bibliographer. Sir John's collection of Australiana was given to the National Library of Australia and forms the basis of the Library's Australian collection.

Ferguson died in Canberra on 27 January 2026, at the age of 85. In December 2000, he was awarded the Australian Sports Medal for leadership of the Australian Sports Commission and Australian sport. In 2007, he published the book More than Sunshine & Vegemite : Success the Australian Way which documented the development of Australian sport for the period 1990 to 2000.

After leaving the Australian Sports Commission, he was President of the ACT Rugby Union and China Australia Sports Association. He was also a board member of the Australian Tourist Commission, Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, World Youth Soccer Cup, World Masters Games. and was commissioned by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd to develop a plan to assist the Pacific Region through rugby union.