Perkins rode BMX for a short while and began cycling aged 13 in 1999 with his father, who had himself been a successful cyclist.

[3] He tested positive for methamphetamine following the Keirin final on 29 July, his case was heard in front of the Court of Arbitration for Sport in November 2004.

A Cycling Australia statement said: "In America Perkins purchased a nasal inhaler of the same brand he regularly uses in Australia without realising it contained a different active ingredient, namely methamphetamine, which is on the banned list," Perkins' suspension ran for six months, from 16 November 2004.

[3] He then went on to represent his country and claim the gold medal in the Men's individual sprint event at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi.

[citation needed] He then won bronze in the individual sprint event, losing in the semifinals to eventual champion Pavel Yakushevskiy.

His team consisting of Pavel Yakushevskiy and Denis Dmitriev took the fourth place after losing the bronze medal race to the Dutch.

[12] In the keirin event, Perkins won his first European silver medal, losing only to the German Maximilian Levy.

[17] During 2018 Six Days of Berlin, his father Daryl Perkins who flew to watch him race was infected with Meningococcal meningitis, which could cause permanent disabilities or death.

A GoFundMe fundraising campaign organized by Six Day Series exceeded target of 20,000 euros under support of German public.