Peter Duncan was born 1st January 1945, in Melbourne. He began his education at Melbourne High School, then continued at Homebush High School in Sydney. He left school at 15 years of age and worked for two years as an apprentice litho printer. During this time he studied for his matriculation at night school in Sydney.
 
He moved to Adelaide with his family and enrolled in the Faculty of Law at the University of Adelaide. While an undergraduate, Peter Duncan was Vice-President of the University Australian Labor Party Club and editor of the student newspaper 'ON DIT'. He was closely identified on campus as a civil libertarian, and was involved in the campaigns against conscription and the Vietnam War.
 
After graduating in a Bachelor of Law, Peter Duncan became a partner in the Adelaide legal firm Cocks, Duncan and Co. He remains a non-practising partner in the Adelaide legal firm Duncan, Groom, Hannon and John, one of Adelaide's leading industrial law practices.
 
Peter Duncan was elected to the South Australian Legislative Assembly early in 1973 as the Member for Elizabeth, a northern metropolitan urban and industrial centre. He represented that electorate for over 12 years until his election to the Federal Parliament as the Member for Makin. He was Government Whip in 1974 and 1975.

In October 1975, he was appointed Attorney-General and Minister for Prices and Consumer Affairs in the Dunstan Government. He remained Attorney-General for South Australia until 1979 when he became Minister for Health and Minister for Corporate Affairs in the Corcoran Government.
  
Following the defeat of the Corcoran Government in October 1979, Duncan returned to the Opposition back bench. While a Minister in the South Australian Parliament, Peter Duncan successfully introduced legal and social reform legislation.  

He was elected to the Federal House of Representatives in December 1984 as the Member for Makin, a north-east suburban area of Adelaide (South Australia). During his first term in the Parliament, he was a member of the Australian Labor Party Caucus Legal and Administrative Policy Committee, the Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee, and the Economics Committee. He was also a member of the Parliamentary Joint Statutory Committee on the National Crime Authority and a member of the Telephone Tapping Enquiry. He was a member of the National Executive of the Australian Labor Party and was Convenor of Legal and Constitutional Policy Committee from 1981-1986.
 
In July 1987, Duncan was elected to the Ministry and appointed Minister for Land Transport and Infrastructure Support with the responsibility for road and rail transport and a wide range of aviation and communications matters. In January 1988, he was appointed the Minister for Employment and Education Services with responsibility for training programs, community based programs, youth affairs and the delivery of student assistance.
 
Duncan was a member of Parliamentary Joint Committee on the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation from May 1990 until his resignation in March 1992. He was not elected to the 4th Hawke Ministry, but was appointed Parliamentary Secretary to the Attorney-General in the Keating Ministry.
 
Mr Duncan lost his seat of Makin in the federal elections of 2 March 1996.

Sources

Parliamentary Handbook, Twenty-fifth Edition, 1991
Commonwealth Government Directory; August 1992
Who's Who in Australia, 1993, XXIXth Edition

Agency associated with person unregistered

28 Feb 1985-05 Jun 1987: Parliamentary Joint Statutory Committee on
                         the National Crime Authority - Member
16 May 1990-03 Mar 1992: Parliamentary Joint Committee on the
                         Australian Security Intelligence
                         Organisation - Member