Christopher Schacht was born on 6 December 1946, in Melbourne, Victoria.  Schacht studied politics at Adelaide University and attended Wattle Grove Teachers College.

He taught at Elizabeth Grove Primary School from 1965 to 1969. At the end of 1969, he took a temporary position as organiser for the South Australian branch of the Australian Labor Party (ALP). He worked as Press Secretary to the South Australian Minister for Agriculture and Lands from 1970 and in 1973 was appointed Principal Private Secretary to Senator the Hon Reginald Bishop, the then Minister for Repatriation and later Postmaster-General in the Whitlam Government. In 1975 he became Assistant State Secretary of the South Australian Branch and in 1979 was elected State Secretary, remaining in that position until his election to the Senate in 1987.

Committee Service:

Senate Legislative and General Purpose Standing: Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade from 24 September 1987 to 24 August 1990
Transport, Communications and Infrastructure from 24 September 1987 Legal and Constitutional Affairs from 24 September 1987

Senate Select: Certain Aspects of the Airline Pilot's Dispute from 25 October 1989 to 27 February 1990

Senate Estimates: B from 24 September 1987 to 29 September 1988 and from 9 March 1989

Joint Statutory: Public Accounts from 14 May to 24 August 1990 
Joint: Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade from 9 October 1987 (Chairman from 17 May 1990)

Joint Standing: New Parliament House from 24 September 1987 to 19 February 1990; Electoral Matters from 21 October 1987 to 19 February 1990

Conferences, Delegations and Visits:

Leader: Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs, Trade and Defence (Defence Sub-Committee) visit to Noumea, New Caledonia, April 1989
Chairman: Australia/Chile Parliamentary Group; Australia/Pacific Group Member: Parliamentary Delegation to Vietnam and Indonesia, January-February 1989
Member: Parliamentary Exchange Visit to New Zealand, April 1989
Member: Parliamentary Groups: Chile; France; Germany; Hungary; Pacific; United Kingdom; USA; USSR
Member: Amnesty International Australia, Australian Parliamentary Group Member: Caucus Transport and Communications Committee
Member: Caucus Arts, Sport, The Environment, Tourism and Territories Committee
Member: Prime Minister's Country Task Force.

Patron of:
Chinese Chamber of Commerce of South Australia
The Burma American Fund

Party Positions
State Secretary: ALP (SA) 1979-87
State Organiser: ALP (SA) 1975-79
Member: ALP National Executive 1979-87 (National Junior Vice-President 1983-86)
Delegate: ALP National Conference 1982-84
Member: ALP National Executive Foreign Affairs & Defence Platform Committee 1983-87.

Sources:
1.  Parliamentary Handbook of the Commonwealth of Australia 1991 
2.  Who's Who in Australia (1992)
3.  Commonwealth Government Directory June 1991
4.  Biographical information supplied by Christopher Schacht's office.