During the 1970s, Shane appeared in a variety of Australian television series including Matlock Police, Number 96 and The Restless Years but in 1981 he scored his longest-running role to date when he was cast as Dr Terence Elliot in A Country Practice, a role he played until 1993, which won him the Silver Logie for Most Outstanding Actor in 1990. Since A Country Practice ended, Shane has had guest acting roles in numerous series, including Pizza, Blue Heelers, Home & Away and, in 1995, the role of Cheryl Stark’s brother, Patrick, in Neighbours. He also had numerous stage roles, and worked as an animation artist on cartoons such as Popeye and Blinky Bill.

However, his main work since 1993 has been as a scriptwriter, working on series including Home & Away, All Saints and Neighbours under the name ‘John Hanlon’. Two of his Neighbours episodes – Madge’s death and Dee’s disappearance – won AWGIE awards in 2001 and 2004 respectively, and he has been on the AWGIE judging panel since 2005.