He retired from Parliament at the 1975 election. From 1977 to 1980, Fairbairn was Australia's Ambassador to the Netherlands. Media reported that the posting "deeply perturbed" staff of the Department of Foreign Affairs, which came at a time when the department was being forced to reduce its overseas representation significantly. Fairbairn died in Woden Valley Hospital in Canberra on 1 June 1994, survived by his wife, Ruth and three daughters. Fairbairn was awarded a Distinguished Flying Cross in 1944, and made a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1977.