Peter Bensley (born 6 February 1954, Warialda, New South Wales)^[1] is an Australian actor.

One of Bensley's earliest roles was as Dennis Braithwaite on the Seven Network drama series Class of '74. He also appeared in ABC Television children's show, Waterloo Street.

Bensley appeared in several Grundy Television soap operas including The Restless Years (1979); The Young Doctors as Dr. Mike Newman (from 1980 until the show finished in 1983); Prisoner as one of the three male prisoners, Matt Delaney (for 34 episodes in 1984); Neighbours (1986) as Tony Chapman;^[2] and Home and Away (1988 to 1990) as school teacher Andrew Foley.^[3] In 2009, he returned to Neighbours for a two-episode guest role as Dean Naughton.^[2]

In 1992, Bensley appeared as Dr. John Austin in the Australian miniseries The New Adventures of Black Beauty. In 1995, he appeared in the Australian/New Zealand co-production Mirror, Mirror, as Andrew Teigan, father of Jo Teigan.

Bensley also appeared in the long-running television series Water Rats about the Sydney Harbour Water Police Squad, in which he had the major role of Chief Inspector Jeff Hawker for the entire series run (1996–2001).

After The Young Doctors was cancelled, Bensley played the title role of Stanley Dunstan in the 1984 comedy film Stanley.^[4] He had to have his hair cut short for the role and he did his own stunts.^[4] Bensley appeared in the 2020 romantic comedy Romance on the Menu.

In the 1980s, Bensley appeared as a nude centrefold in the magazine, Cleo, wearing only strategically placed scuba gear. He also featured in a cheeky advertisement for Palmolive Gold, in which he is seen in bed with fellow The Young Doctors actress Judy McBurney, and semi-naked in a shower.

His first fiction book, On a Wing and a Prayer, was published in 2006.

Bensley and his partner have 3 children.

• Peter Bensley at IMDb
• Peter Bensley – "The Young Doctors"
• Peter Bensley – "Water Rats"
• Peter Bensley^{[permanent dead link‍]} – "Water Rats"
• Author page at Random House publishers