In 1990 he made his debut at the Sydney Opera House, performing as a featured soloist with the Australian National Youth Choir.
[citation needed] Later, Hickey studied towards a Bachelor of Music in opera at the Queensland Conservatorium Griffith University, where he was a student of Professor Janet Delpratt AM.
He won numerous prizes and awards, and appeared in masterclasses with the likes of Dame Joan Sutherland and Olaf Bär.
During that time, The Ten Tenors: were awarded numerous gold and platinum albums in Australia and abroad; recorded at Abbey Road Studios and at Sir George Martin's Air Studios, London; collaborated with Oscar-winning composer John Barry and Grammy-award winning producer Simon Franglen; and performed at high-profile venues worldwide, including the Royal Albert Hall in London, the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles, the Deutsches Schauspielhaus in Hamburg and the Sydney Opera House.
[7] In 2018, Hickey achieved prominence acting for liquidators in high-profile litigation against Clive Palmer and his companies,[8] and in appearances for one of the families during the Coronial Inquest into the deaths of 4 people at Dreamworld in 2016.