He then returned to Monash, where he completed a Doctorate in history, graduating in 1987 with a thesis titled "Faddists and Extremists": Radicalism and the Labour Movement in South Eastern Australia, 1886–1898.
[5] Over the course of his career he has worked in partnership with a number of public institutions, including the National Museum of Australia, the Western Front Interpretive Centre, the Australian National Archives, the Shrine of Remembrance, History Council of NSW, History Teacher's Association of NSW and the Australian War Memorial.
[6] In 2004 he was part of the Department of Defence National Committee to investigate and confirm the presence of mass graves on the site of the Attack at Fromelles at Pheasant Wood, France.
[9] With historian Susan Carland he presented a documentary video series titled Australian Journey, filmed around Australia and involving more than 50 major cultural institutions.
Titled On Dangerous Ground: a Gallipoli Story, the book drew on both his historical research and experiences working with government advisory bodies to tell a story about the Gallipoli campaign and its aftermath through the perspectives of a soldier on the frontline, CEW Bean and a historian investigating war graves in 2015.
He has written several opinion pieces for the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age newspapers, mostly on the topic of war remembrance and commemoration.