He spent some time teaching at an Aboriginal community in the north of Western Australia, where he started to research his family's history.

The themes of these novels have been said to "explore the problem of self-identity faced by light-skinned Aboriginal people and examine the government's assimilationist policies during the first decades of the twentieth century".

[2] Scott was the first indigenous writer to win the Miles Franklin Award for Benang, which has since been published in translation in France and the Netherlands.

[3] His 2010 novel That Deadman Dance (Picador) explores the lively fascination felt between Noongar, British colonists and American whalers in the early years of the 19th century.

[4] Scott was appointed Professor of Writing in the School of Media, Culture and Creative Arts of Curtin University in December, 2011.