Previously Barry worked at Bond University where he was a Professor of Finance and also a founding Co-Director of the Globalisation and Development Center at the Faculty of Business. Barry also is a visiting researcher at the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) and the Swiss Economic Institute (KOF), Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH), Zurich. Prior to working at Bond University Barry has worked at The University of Queensland and Monash University. Before commencing an academic career, Barry worked in the Economics Department of the State Bank of Victoria.

Barry has taught in the areas of Financial Markets and Institutions and International Finance. His research focuses upon the banking industry, in particular the areas of bank performance and risk, both domestically and multinationally.

Barry's reseach has been publised in number of journals including several times in the Journal of Banking and Finance as well as the Australian Journal of Management, the Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Instruments, Financial Markets, Institutions and Instruments, the Journal of Economic Surveys and Applied Economics.