He was a Liberal member of the Victorian Legislative Council since October 1992, representing Koonung Province from 1992 to 2006 and Eastern Metropolitan Region from 2006 to 2022.

He has also been a writer for the Foodweek and Inside Retailing publications since 1981, and operates his own business consultancy firm, The Atkinson Group.

[1] In the lead-up to the 1992 state election, Atkinson won Liberal Party pre-selection for the moderately safe upper house seat of Koonung Province.

Atkinson was reappointed to the role of Legislative Council President in December 2014, defeating Labor nominee Gayle Tierney.

In response, Atkinson claimed that he derived no financial benefit from the organization and that his title was solely honorific in nature.