Tony Kevin grew up in Sydney and Canberra, and moved permanently to the Canberra region at age 25 to begin work in the then External Affairs Department. Kevin served in diplomatic posts in Moscow, New York, Warsaw and Phnom Penh, the latter two as ambassador. He retired from diplomacy (and the public service) in 1998. Kevin also worked in the Prime Minister's Department and has been a Visiting Fellow at the Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, Australian National University.