Allan began his career as a biochemist with Commonwealth Serum Laboratories in 1972. Since then he has worked in agriculture, environment protection, forestry, land management and conservation. Allan currently heads the Department of Environment & Natural Resources in SA. Allan has both an operational and a policy background. He has had extensive board experience in the public and philanthropic sectors and is presently Chair of the board of Zero Waste SA and a member of the EPA board in South Australia.

Allan is an experienced public service executive with a deep interest in developing and improving the performance of organisations. He is an experimenter and innovator, willing to try different approaches to delivering services. Allan is a skilled communicator and passionate about encouraging community interest and debate in environmental issues. He is a regular commentator on ABC radio. and host of the department's 'Stirring the Possum' community events, attracting in excess of 300 people per event. Allan enjoys learning from new experiences and is committed to sharing his knowledge with others.