Professor Harvey is the Executive Dean of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of Adelaide. Currently Professor Harvey is on a number of international scientific committees dealing with global change and was one of the lead authors on the recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Working Group II report, the global body assessing the scientific evidence for climate change. He is also currently Chair of the international START-Oceania committee, based in Fiji, dealing with global change research and training.
He is a member of the Australian Government Advisory Group on Coastal Vulnerability Assessment and a member of the Executive Steering Committee for South Australia's State of the Environment Report.