Following the separation of his parents, Paul Darveniza lived with his mother, Audrey Wella Darveniza-Barns,[6] and periodically visited his father who was then practising in outback Queensland.
He then studied medicine at the University of Sydney and gained a residency in neurology at St Vincents Hospital, Darlinghurst, the place where he would later practise for most of his medical career.
During that tour, which lasted three months, he saw the effects of the "ruthless" apartheid system "both in everyday life in South Africa and within the rugby stadiums themselves".
He and six other Wallabies – Jim Boyce, Tony Abrahams, Terry Forman, Barry McDonald, James Roxburgh and Bruce Taafe – declared "their opposition to the continuation of sporting ties with the South African Republic".
Returning to St Vincent's Hospital he was appointed a consultant neurologist whose specialties included "clinical neurology, muscle diseases, myaesthenia gravis, and movement disorders".