Before this, Ian and his brother Bruce were both awarded full blues for fencing as members of the Melbourne University Fencing Club.Bowditch, who trained as a lawyer, helped draft the Constitution of Nauru while working as an Australian Government Legal Officer prior to Nauru's independence.
He later practiced as a barrister at the Victorian Bar for over 25 years (signing the Victorian Bar Roll on 24 November 1983 and retiring in 2003).He was the father of singer Clare Bowditch.