Heather teaches and researches at the Melbourne Law School, University of Melbourne and has researched legal responses to family violence for over 20 years. Since 2016 she has coordinated the National Domestic and Family Violence Bench Book, an open access online resource for judicial officers responding to cases involving family violence. Heather was previously a commissioner of the Queensland Law Reform Commission and a member of the Child Death Review Board. She has also worked as a criminal lawyer in Victoria, the Northern Territory and in Queensland. Heather is an elected fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia and in the 2022 Australia Day Honours List, was appointed as a Member (AM) in the General Division of the Order of Australia for her service to tertiary law education and the community.