Catherine works in the Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences at Monash University as an Associate Professor; she teaches research in post-graduate courses. Her research affiliation is with the Criminal Justice Research Consortium (CJRC).

Catherine is actively engaged in a range of collaborative research projects.  Current research includes: exploring the trajectories toward criminalisation for young women who go missing; mapping the needs and experiences of children who experience parental imprisonment, and exploring assessment feedback processes in a Master of Social Work program.

Before joining the Social Work Department at Monash, Catherine worked in direct practice for ten years sharing her time between Australia and Northern Ireland. Her direct practice experiences and interests include:casework with young people at risk' and in contact with the juvenile justice system; young parents and family violence.  Her recent books include co-authored texts: Co-production and Criminal Justice (with Drs Diana Johns, Maggie Hall, Claire Spivakovsky and Shelley Turner) and Research in Social work and Social care (with Assoc. Prof. Fiona McDermott). She is currenting co-editing a special issue of Current Issues in Criminal Justice with Dr Natalia Hanley (University of Wollongong) on technology assisted prison visiting.