Frame joined the Royal Australian Naval College, HMAS Creswell as a 16-year-old junior entry cadet midshipman in January 1979.
Frame completed his studies in Chinese history and economics at the University of New South Wales, graduating with Bachelor of Arts (Honours), and the inaugural W.J.
Two years later he undertook study in military history at the Australian Defence Force Academy leading to the award of a PhD in October 1991, taking as his thesis topic the Melbourne-Voyager collision.
He served as a staff officer at Headquarters, Australian Defence Force, before completing full-time naval service in November 1992 and resigning his commission in 1997.
Frame completed a Master of Theology degree with a thesis entitled "The Delphic Sword: Reconciling Christianity and Military Service in Australia" in June 1993.
From 1996 to 1997, he took leave in England and completed a Master of Arts (Honours) in applied theology at the University of Kent in Canterbury as the Lucas Tooth Scholar and ministered in the United Benefice of Hever, Four Elms and Markbeech in the Diocese of Rochester.
In July 2017, he was appointed the inaugural director of the Howard Library (located at Old Parliament House, Canberra) and the Public Leadership Research Group.
In 2010, Frame relocated to a rural property adjacent to the village of Tarago (north-east of Canberra) where he is engaged in small-scale beef production.