John Phillimore joined Curtin in July 2007 as the Executive Director of The John Curtin Institute of Public Policy.
A Rhodes Scholar, he completed his undergraduate degree at the University of WA and a first class honours in Politics and Economics at Oxford University.
He then worked from 1984 to 1987 as an adviser to the Deputy Premier and Minister for Technology in the Western Australian Government.
From 1987 to 1991 he was at the Science Policy Research Unit at the University of Sussex in the UK, where he did a coursework Masters degree and then a PhD on new technology, vocational training and industrial relations in Australia.
On his return to Perth in 1991, he joined the Institute for Sustainability and Technology Policy at Murdoch University where he was a Senior Lecturer and Head of School.
Between 2001 and 2005 he worked as Chief of Staff to the Western Australian Minister for Local Government and Regional Development and then as a Senior Policy Advisor to the Minister for Education and Training, before joining the policy Division of the WA Department of Premier and Cabinet in 2005. In 2006, he became the Director of the Intergovernmental Relations Unit whose responsibilities include preparation of State Government advice on COAG and other policy issues relating to federalism.