After war service with the Royal Australian Air Force, he graduated in law with first class honours from the University of Sydney in 1948,[5][6] and was admitted to the New South Wales Bar in 1949.
[3] In December 1974, Neaves was appointed the next Crown Solicitor, to commence in February 1975.
[5] The post came after five years in Sydney as head of the Deputy Crown Solicitor's Office.
[8] When the Labor Party was elected and Bob Hawke became Prime Minister, among the new Government's first order of business was to remove Neaves from his position as Secretary of the Attorney-General's Department.
[3] Neaves remained a Judge of the Federal Court until 8 January 1995, when he reached the mandatory retirement age of 70.