He developed an interest in aviation and mechanics at an early age, and served a motor engineering apprenticeship with Broadbribb Brothers in Melbourne.

[1] He enlisted in the Australian Flying Corps on 2 November 1916, initially as a mechanic, but was soon accepted to train as a pilot, as an acting sergeant.

[1] After the end of World War I, the Australian government offered a prize of £10,000 for the first flight from England to Australia.

In November 1926, Parer set up the Bulolo Goldfields Aeroplane Service Ltd there, and was the first pilot to fly over the Owen Stanley[3] Range.

[1] In 1934, he participated in the MacRobertson Air Race from England to Australia, this time teamed with Geoff Hemsworth, flying a Fairey Fox.

However the advent of World War II and the impending Japanese invasion of New Guinea in 1942 found him once again in military service, this time in the Royal Australian Air Force.

[1] On 21 October 2023, Parer and John Cowe McIntosh were inducted into the Australian Aviation Hall of Fame.