He was born in Kalgoorlie, Western Australia, and attended Eastern Goldfields High School.
Having joined the Labor Party in 1967, he was officer-in-charge of the Personnel Practice Section of the Commonwealth Department of Labour and National Service from 1972 to 1974.
In 1975 he became a lecturer in Management and Organisational Behaviour at Swinburne College of Technology before joining the staff of Senator John Button in 1978.
He returned to Swinburne in 1982, leaving again in 1986 to work as a government liaison officer to the Victorian Ministry for the Arts.
He was a state conference delegate (1975–86), member of the Administrative Committee State Branch (1980–89) and secretary of the Foreign Affairs Policy Committee (1986–90) In 1983, he ran unsuccessfully in a by-election for East Yarra Province in the Victorian Legislative Council.