[2] Karmel was educated at Caulfield Grammar School and the University of Melbourne, where he won a non-resident Exhibition to Trinity College in 1940.
In that year, he was awarded the Rouse Ball studentship at Trinity College, University of Cambridge, where he completed a PhD on Male and Female Fertility Rates.
In 1998 a national conference was held to honour Karmel at the conclusion of his term serving as chair of the Australian Council for Educational Research and board of directors.
[7] The Peter Karmel Building at the ANU School of Music was opened on 26 October 2001 and named in his honour.
[11] His son, Tom Karmel, is adjunct professor at Flinders University, where he works at the National Institute of Labour Studies.