The family immigrated to Australia in 1959 and settled in Adelaide, where Shackleton was educated at Croydon High School.
[1] Shackleton joined the Navy in 1966 under Supplementary List (Executive) Scheme, and saw service in Vietnam while qualifying as a seaman officer.
[3] He was a senior Navy witness to the Senate Enquiry into the Children overboard affair.
[4] He was appointed Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) in 2000,[5] and Commander of the United States Legion of Merit in 2001.
[3] Shackleton was appointed to the Defence SA Advisory Board in South Australia in 2007, the year of its establishment.