 He relocated to Perth, Western Australia and resigned his commission as Federal Court Judge in 1986 to take up the position of Royal Commissioner for the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody, which ran from 1987 to 1991, with hearings finishing in 1989.On 1 July 1989 he was appointed as Administrator of the Northern Territory, a position he held until 4 December 1992.As Administrator he opened the new Supreme Court Building in 1991.