John Tomlinson graduated in Social Studies from the University of Queensland in 1964 and practiced as a social worker. He has long campaigned for a Basic Income and completed his doctoral thesis, entitled: 'Income Maintenance in Australia: The Income Guarantee Alternative' in 1989 at Murdoch University. Tomlinson has lived in Darwin and later worked as a senior lecturer at Queensland University of Technology. He retired in 2007.
In 2008, Tomlinson was a Visiting Scholar at Queensland University of Technology.
Tomlinson is widely published, particularly on Basic Income. His later publications include Income Insecurity: The Basic Income Alternative (2001). Tomlinson has been the driving force behind the development of the Australian BIGA website, and is its content approver.
