Peter Grabosky holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from Northwestern University, and has written extensively on criminal justice and public policy. His general interests are in computer crime, policing, and regulatory failure. Peter is interested specifically in how non-governmental institutions may be harnessed in furtherance of public policy. Peter is a former Fellow of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia, and an Honorary Fellow of the Academy of Experimental Criminology, He was the 2006 winner of the Sellin-Glueck Award of the American Society of Criminology for contributions to comparative and international criminology, and the 2011 recipient of the Prix Hermann Mannheim, awarded by the International Centre of Comparative Criminology at the University of Montreal. In 2012 the (US) National White Collar Crime Center and the White Collar Crime Research Consortium awarded him the Gilbert Geis Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of outstanding professional contributions in the area of white collar crime. He is a past president of the Australian and New Zealand Society of Criminology, a founding member and former  Vice President of the Asian Criminological Society.

In 1983, Peter moved to the Australian Institute of Criminology (AIC), where, with the exception of a two-year secondment to The Australian National University, he spent the next 18½ years. At the AIC, Peter served as Director of Research for the National Committee on Violence, whose report, 'Violence: Directions for Australia', provided a cross-sectoral, whole-of-society roadmap for the prevention and control of violence in Australia. Peter's later years at the AIC saw him address the newly-emerging field of computer-related crime. Written in collaboration with Russell Smith, Peter's books on the subject contributed to the development of policy in this field, and have received international recognition.

Peter’s recent books include: 'States and Peoples in Conflict' (with Stohl and Lichbach) (Routledge 2017) 'Cybercrime' (Oxford University Pres 2016) 'Crime and Terrorism' (with Stohl) (Sage Publications 2010) 'Lengthening the Arm of the Law' (with Ayling and Shearing) (Cambridge University Press 2009); 'Electronic Crime' (Pearson Prentice Hall 2007); and 'Cyber Criminals on Trial' (with Smith and Urbas) (Cambridge University Press 2004). The latter book won the Distinguished Book Award of American Society of Criminology’s Division of International Criminology.

Peter rose to become Deputy Director of the AIC before joining the Regulatory Institutions Network (RegNet) in the Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies (RSPAS) at The Australian National University, in 2001. As a Professor at RegNet, he was Co-Director (with Clifford Shearing) of Security 21: International Centre for Security and Justice. The Centre’s research  focused on various means of enhancing the capacity of police organisations, while ensuring equity, accountability and cost-effectiveness in the delivery of police services.

Over the course of his career, Peter has held a number of visiting appointments, including Russell Sage Fellow in Law and Social Science at Yale Law School (1976-78); Visiting Professor at  Chuo University (1993;2008); Visiting Expert for the United Nations Asia and Far East Institute for the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders (UNAFEI) (1995; 1998);  Visiting Professor at the  People’s Public Security University of China (1996; 2006; 2014), Dae H. Chang International Visiting Scholar, School of Criminal Justice, Michigan State University, (2011); and Simon Visiting Professor, School of Law, University of Manchester, (2011).

Peter was a Rapporteur on the Expert Working Group on Crimes Related to the Computer Network at the Tenth United Nations Congress on the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders, Vienna (2000). From 1998 to 2002, Peter was President of the Australian and New Zealand Society of Criminology.  A founding member of the of the Campbell Collaboration Crime and Justice Steering Group, he was co-Chair 2007-2010.