[2] After a period in civilian life, including security work in Rwanda and Zaire, a stint as a "tracker" on the 1990s British reality-style television game show, Wanted,[2] as security adviser to the series Journeys to the Ends of the Earth, and an unsuccessful 2003 attempt to win a New South Wales Legislative Assembly seat representing Coogee, for the Liberal Party,[9][10] he enlisted in the Australian Army as a lawyer.

[2][12] The ABC found evidence of war crimes and published the information in their 2017 publication The Afghan Files.

[22] During the case, McBride's lawyers stated he acted out of concern about the nature of the Defence Force's “excessive investigation of soldiers” in Afghanistan.

[23][24] McBride believed the investigations were a "PR exercise" to compensate for earlier public allegations of war crimes.

[26] The plea came after Justice Mossop ruled that he would instruct the incoming jury that McBride was not bound to act in the public interest under his oath of service.

[27] The government were also allowed to claim public-interest immunity for documents McBride's defence team sought to use.

[2] A portrait of McBride, titled The Whistleblower, by Kate Stevens won the 2023 Portia Geach Memorial Award.