He has contributed to the development of policies including reform of working-age social security payments, youth allowances, jobseeker accounts for unemployed people, and proposals to strengthen the personal income tax base and provide State Governments with a robust revenue base to fund community services. He has many publications across these policy areas.

Peter has represented ACOSS on various advisory bodies including the Climate Change Household Assistance Working Group, the Community Tax Forum, superannuation policy advisory bodies, the ABS CPI Review advisory group, the Employment Services Industry Reference Group, the Centrelink Service Delivery Policy Advisory Group, the Disability Support Pension Advisory Group and reference groups for several research projects on poverty and inequality.