Sculthorpe studied composition at the University of Melbourne before moving to Wadham College, Cambridge, where his teachers included Edmund Rubbra and Egon Wellesz. For much of his career Sculthorpe creatively engaged with the Austalian landscape and culture, frequently giving Aboriginal names to his compositions (Kakadu, Nourlangie, Jabiru Dreaming, etc). He was awarded an OBE in 1977 and was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) in 1990.