At the age of nine, he won the Royal Humane Society's medal for rescuing another child from drowning in the Mitchell River.

On his appointment he was aged only 25, the youngest professor in the British Commonwealth, and one who had held no previous teaching post.

[2] In 1930 he published Australia, a book which was well received and notable for its ironic tone, particularly in criticism of Australian institutions such as tariff protection, was highly influential, and is still frequently quoted today.

During this period he was sent as a government expert to examine constitutional questions in Uganda in 1954, at the height of the Kabaka crisis.

Hancock returned to Australia in 1957 to take up an appointment as Director of the Research School of Social Sciences at the Australian National University, a position he held until 1961.

He retired in 1965, having been appointed Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KBE) in the 1965 New Year's Honours.

He disliked American bases on Australian soil, and he was a very prominent but ultimately unsuccessful opponent of the construction of Black Mountain Tower in Canberra.