Harris joined the Australian Public Service in 1976 as a graduate economist in the Department of Overseas Trade.
[3] Then Prime Minister Kevin Rudd appointed Harris Secretary of the Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy in August 2009.
[6] Harris was made an Officer of the Order of Australia in 2013 for distinguished service to public administration through leadership and policy reform roles in the areas of telecommunications, the environment, primary industry and transport.
[7] In March 2019, Harris joined the board of Infrastructure Australia, about six months after retiring from his final major government role as chair of the Productivity Commission.
[8] In April 2020 he was appointed the Chief Executive Officer of the National COVID-19 Coordination Commission (NCC) Advisory Board, which he concluded in October 2020.