Mr McFarlane is an Associate Investigator with the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence in Policing and Security. He is also a Visiting Fellow in the Strategic and Defence Studies Centre at The Australian National University, and, until December 2010, was an Adjunct Professor in the Centre for Policing, Intelligence and Counter-Terrorism at Macquarie University. His research interests include transnational, serious and organised crime; corruption, including the impact of corruption in fragile states; police peace operations and capacity building; military support for law enforcement; maritime security; and regional security cooperation.

Mr McFarlane has a background in the Australian Intelligence Community, as well as having served as the Director of Intelligence in the Australian Federal Police. Between 2000 and 2004, he was the Executive Director of the Australian Committee of the Council for Security Cooperation in the Asia-Pacific. He has travelled extensively overseas in relation to his official duties, and has been posted in Papua New Guinea and in the Australian High Commission in London, as well as on exchange, for two years, with the UK Ministry of Defence. He has written extensively on security and law enforcement issues, and is currently on the Editorial Board of the international journal, Global Crime.