Michael Keating was the Head of three Government Departments (consecutively, Employment and Industrial Relations, Finance, and Prime Minister and Cabinet) between the beginning of 1983 and the end of 1996. Since 1997, he has been an academic at both the ANU and Griffith University, and has also been on a number of government and private company boards, and done a number of reviews for both the Commonwealth and State governments. He has a PhD from the ANU, and honorary doctorates from Griffith and Melbourne Universities. He also has an AC and was a recipient of a Centenary Medal.