Commencing further education at the Australian National University, Smith completed a Masters of Economics in 1990 and graduated with a PhD in 1994.[5] She was appointed an academic at the university between 1994 and 2000, specialising in North Asia.[6]
Smith joined the Office of National Assessments in 2000, where she was Assistant Director-General in the International Economy Branch until 2003. She worked at the Treasury from 2003 to 2005, before returning to the Office of National Assessments between February 2005 and August 2010.[7]
In August 2010, Smith joined the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade as a Deputy Secretary. She was responsible for IT issues, the Americas, Africa, North Asia and international security issues.[7] She shifted to the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet in September 2013, also as a Deputy Secretary. At PM&C she was G20 Sherpa—the Prime Minister's personal envoy for the 2014 G20 Brisbane summit. She attended a G20 Sherpa meeting in Moscow in 2013 and chaired G20 meetings in Australia at Uluru, Sydney and Melbourne.[8] She also led the development of the policy agenda for the event.[9]
Smith was appointed Secretary of the Department of Communications and the Arts in January 2016.[10][11][12][13] Smith later became the secretary of the Department of Industry, Innovation and Science. She lost her job in December 2019 as part of changes made by Prime Minister Scott Morrison to the structure of departments. Four other departmental secretaries were sacked as part of these changes.[14]
