John Halligan is Emeritus Professor of Public Administration and Governance at the University of Canberra, Australia.

His research interests are comparative public management and governance, specifically public sector reform, performance management and government institutions. He specialises in the Anglophone countries of Australia and New Zealand, and for comparative purposes, Canada and the United Kingdom. Current studies are Digital Government, Performance Management (3rd edition of a book), and a Comparative Analysis of Public Governance.

Professor Halligan has held academic appointments at the University of Melbourne and the Australian National University, and visiting positions at various institutions including Georgetown University (Washington DC), Australian National University, Catholic University of Leuven and the Victoria University of Wellington.

Professional activities include Deputy President, Institute of Public Administration Australia (ACT Division). His consultancies include projects with international organisations: OECD, Commonwealth Secretariat, United Nations Development Program and World Bank; and with Australian government departments and state, territory and local governments.