He played club football for the South Sydney Rabbitohs, Wigan, Manly Warringah Sea Eagles and North Queensland Cowboys.

[3] He made his first grade début with the Rabbitohs in the 1986 Winfield Cup season and his form early on saw him touted as a bolter for the 1986 Kangaroo Tour, though ultimately he would miss selection.

In his first appearance for the Cherry and Whites on 1 October against St. Helens at Central Park, Roberts came on after 8 minutes as a replacement and made an astonishing 59 tackles as the home side won their 1986 Lancashire Cup semi-final 22–16.

He played second row in Wigan's 15–8 victory over Oldham in the Lancashire County Cup Final at Knowsley Road in St. Helens, on Sunday 19 October 1986.

[5] and played in Wigan's 18–4 victory over Warrington in the 1986–87 John Player Special Trophy Final at Burnden Park in Bolton on Saturday 10 January 1987.

[citation needed] In 2000, Roberts was awarded the Australian Sports Medal for his contribution to Australia's international standing in rugby league.

The NRL Footy Show principals Paul Vautin, Peter Sterling and Steve Roach appeared in a poster campaign against homophobia conducted by the Lesbian and Gay Anti-Violence Project.

[citation needed] Roberts appeared on the 17 July 2007 cover of The Advocate magazine in an exclusive interview with Canadian author and journalist Michael Rowe, along with a photo layout by celebrity photographer Eric Schwabel.

[19][citation needed] In September 2010, Roberts publicly criticised Australian swimming star Stephanie Rice for calling the South African rugby union team "faggots" on Twitter, branding her "a complete idiot".

[21][22] Ian Roberts is a director and co-founder of Qtopia Sydney, an Australian museum of LGBTQ history and culture which opened in February 2024.

[23] Roberts finished playing professional rugby league in 1998, and began studying at the National Institute of Dramatic Art in Sydney.

[24] Roberts made a very brief cameo in the 2002 film Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones as a bartender working in the Outlander Club where Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker apprehend the bounty hunter Zam Wesell.

[25] In 2009, Roberts appeared in the Australian television mini-series Underbelly: A Tale of Two Cities, which retells real life events of the drug trade in the New South Wales town of Griffith between 1976 and 1987.