Academy Fellow

My working life has been divided between academia and politics, the two being connected by a desire to learn from the social sciences and a commitment to seek change via politics. 

I have been appointed to chair or participate in many public policy inquiries ranging from health to education and including overseas aid, urban planning, inter-government relations, mental health, and democratic renewal.

I was particularly proud of my tenure at Sydney University teaching public administration with public servants - a real union of theory and practice. My understanding from politics has informed research which has in turn informed public policy. 

I’ve written extensively about religion and politics: politics as a vocation and what we can learn from its practice; democracy and the need for reform through random selection and deliberation; accountability and the public interest; federalism and inter-government relations; the public service and public sector reform; drug policy; constitutional reform and the republic; the politics of mental health; and the role and purpose of education. I frequently participate in public debates and have been a strong advocate for the social sciences.

Emeritus Professor, University of Sydney

Adjunct Professor, Curtin University

Adjunct Professor, Waterford Institute of Technology, Waterford, Ireland

National Fellow, Institute of Public Administration Australia

Hon D.Litt, Murdoch University

Hon D Litt. University of Western Australia 

1. Politics, Society, Self: occasional writings (UWA Publishing 2012)

2. Geoff Gallop Essay Collection (Curtin Business School) research.curtin.edu.au

3. Valuing the Teaching Profession: an independent inquiry (with Tricia Kavanagh and Patrick Lee) (NSW TF, 2021)

4. A republican history of Australia in Labour History 2014, (107)

5. Why we need a national plan - in Ideas for Australian Progress edited by Miriam Lyons (CPD,2013)