Harry graduated in medicine and surgery, and medical science, from the University of Melbourne [UoM]. During his BMedSc studies, he contributed to the early scientific work that resulted in the cochlear implant.
He is a Fellow of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists and a Distinguished Fellow of the Pacific Rim College of Psychiatrists. He was foundation director of the Victorian Transcultural Psychiatry Unit. Since 1995 he has also been Director of the UoM Centre for International Mental Health, Melbourne School of Population and Global Health.
In 2007 to present, he was appointed by the Director-General of the World Health Organisation to the International Expert Panel on Mental Health and Substance Abuse.