[1] Pakula was born in Melbourne in 1969, the son of immigrants from Poland who were deported during World War II to Uzbekistan.
[3] After graduating from university, Pakula began work at Macpherson and Kelley Solicitors.
[3] In 2005, Pakula unsuccessfully challenged Simon Crean in the ALP preselection for the seat of Hotham.
[4][5] On 18 March 2013 he was endorsed as the Labor candidate for the Lyndhurst by-election held on 27 April, caused by the February 2013 resignation of shadow treasurer Tim Holding.
[6] Pakula resigned from the Legislative Council on 26 March 2013 to contest Lyndhurst and was successful in retaining the seat for Labor.
In November 2022 Pakula was appointed to the board of helloworld travel as a non-executive director.