Born in London of Irish parents in 1937, Michael Beahan was educated at the Salesian College in Battersea, where he successfully completed O levels in 1953.
Following a year as a clerk with a large insurance company, he migrated to Australia with his parents, four brothers and his sister in 1954.
From this position he was seconded to Melbourne in 1974 as part of a three-person team to set up the Australian Trade Union Training Authority (TUTA), a Federal Government funded statutory authority providing education and training programs for union officials.
At the March 1996 general election he was defeated in his bid for another six-year term as Senator for Western Australia to commence on 1 July.
He was a director of Merri Health, a major health provider in north west Melbourne, a former member of the board of Neighbourhood Houses Victoria and of the board of the Australian Neighbourhood Houses and Centres Association and chairman of its Public Fund.