Catherine was elected to the NSW Legislative Council (Upper House) in 2003 and re-elected in 2011.
Catherine served on the Opposition front bench for 8 years variously in the Juvenile Justice, Fair Trading and Environment portfolios. In 2011 she was appointed Chair of the Joint Parliamentary Committee oversighting the Ombudsman and Police Integrity Commission. She has served as Parliamentary Secretary for Tertiary Education and Skills; Parliamentary Secretary to former Premier Mike Baird and is currently Parliamentary Secretary for Digital Inclusion.
Catherine lives at Lennox Head on the NSW Far North Coast. She has an economics degree and background as a professional writer including as a consultant and columnist for the Sunday Telegraph. She is a former Chair of Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians (Australia Region), former Chair of Australian Rural Health Research Collaboration Advisory Committee, and a Director of the Virginia Chadwick Memorial Foundation (supporting the Great Barrier Reef).
