His father was a solicitor by profession who had been elected to the Victorian Legislative Council in 1962, and served as a Liberal state government minister in the 1970s and 1980s.

After returning to Australia, Hunt studied arts and law at the University of Melbourne, living at Ormond College and graduating with first-class honours.

[13] Hunt is one of seven Liberal MPs in the 46th Parliament of Australia who have obtained degrees at an Oxbridge or Ivy League university, the others being Alan Tudge, Angus Taylor, Andrew Laming, Dave Sharma, Josh Frydenberg and Paul Fletcher.

He remained in Downer's office until 1998, spanning his resignation as Liberal leader and later appointment as foreign minister in the Howard government.

[17][18] Hunt was first elevated to the ministry following the 2004 federal election, when he was appointed Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for the Environment and Heritage.

[26] In June 2017 Hunt, Michael Sukkar and Alan Tudge faced the possibility of being prosecuted for contempt of court after they made public statements criticising the sentencing decisions of two senior judges while the government was awaiting their ruling on a related appeal.

"[32] In Turnbull's 2020 autobiography A Bigger Picture, he described Hunt as "widely distrusted by his colleagues" and stated that he "all too often used abusive and vulgar language towards others", including to his department secretary Martin Bowles.

[33][5] Hunt stood for the deputy leadership of the party, polling 16 votes out of 82 (20 percent) compared with 46 for Josh Frydenberg and 20 for Steven Ciobo; there were three abstentions.

[2] Hunt's leadership over Australia's public health response to the pandemic has received praise for its effectiveness in reducing transmission and following scientific advice.

[4][35] In government meetings, Hunt drew comparison's with Australia's shortcomings in responding to the 1918 flu pandemic to garner political support for the "suppression" strategy.

[3][38] His handling of the country’s vaccination program has drawn sharp criticism for delays and examples of mis-management, particularly in the aged care sector.

[40][41] In June 2020 Hunt announced that he would ask the Governor-General in Council to make regulations from 1 July 2020 prohibiting the importation of e-cigarettes containing vaporizer nicotine and nicotine-containing refills unless on prescription from a doctor.

By 27 July a petition endorsed by Senator Matthew Canavan and George Christensen and other backbenchers was signed by over 70,000 people, causing Hunt to extend this deadline.

[43] Hunt stated in a media release that he will now ask the Governor-General in Council to sign off on these regulations on 1 January 2021 to allow time for a more streamlined process for patients obtaining nicotine through their GP.

[45] In October 2022, Monash University announced the appointment of Hunt as the foundation Chair of the Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health’s Advisory Council.