Joan Corbett was born in Montreal, Canada on 3 August 1952. She was educated at Turner Primary School and Canberra High School in the Australian Capital Territory, and Marion High School in South Australia. She graduated with a Bachelor of Economics from the Australian National University in 1974, and awarded a Graduate Diploma in Education from the University of Canberra in 1975. From 1976 to 1981 Corbett worked as a high school mathematics teacher. She became the Schools Liaison Officer for the ACT Teachers' Federation 1981-83, and then General Secretary, ACT Teachers' Federation 1983-86. Corbett was the first Women's Officer appointed to the Australian Teachers' Federation 1986-89. From 1989 to 1992 she worked for the Economic Policy and Analysis Section, Youth Bureau of the Department of Employment, Education and Training. In 1992 she took up a postgraduate scholarship offered by the Department to complete a Master of Public Policy degree at the Australian National University, and was a member of the university's Board of Studies, Graduate Program in Public Policy. In 1993 she worked as an Adviser to the Minister for Employment, Education and Training and in September 1993 as Director of the Women's Policy Section of the Department of Employment, Education and Training. In 2009 Corbett held the position of Assistant Secretary for the Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing. She joined the University of Canberra in 2011 and is Associate Professor in Public Health.