 His father, Sir Paul Hasluck was a minister in the Federal Government under Robert Menzies, and was later appointed Governor-General of Australia.Nicholas went to school at Scotch College, Perth, and Canberra Grammar School, before studying law at the University of Western Australia (1963) and Oxford (1966).After completing his studies he worked briefly in Fleet Street in London as an editorial assistant before returning to Australia in 1967 to work as a solicitor, initially in partnership with Robert Holmes à Court.