From 1999-2006, Tom was Director of Demos, a leading independent think tank based in London. Prior to that, he was a special adviser to David Blunkett MP, then-UK Secretary of State for Education and Employment.  

He is a board member of the State Library of Victoria, the Per Capita think tank, and Eidos, the Queensland-based research institute. 

Tom’s current policy work covers economic innovation, social inclusion, and government and public sector reform. He has long-standing interests in democracy, governance and learning. During Tom’s directorship, Demos played a leading role in public policy debate, and in building new links between policy, practice and implementation across a growing international network.

His publications include Learning Beyond the Classroom: education for a changing world, (Routledge, 1998), The Creative Age: knowledge and skills for a new economy (Demos, 1999), The Adaptive State: strategies for personalising the public realm (Demos 2003), Letting Go: complexity, individualism and the left (Renewal, 2002), and Everyday Democracy: why we get the politicians we deserve (Demos, 2005).

Aged 34, Tom lives in Melbourne with his wife and two daughters.