Daughter of medical missionaries, Louise Joy completed her tertiary education at the University of Melbourne with a Bachelor Arts (Honours) in History and a Diploma in Social Studies.
As a Social Worker from 1952-62 she worked with women who attempted suicide at the Alfred Hospital.
After her marriage in the early 1960s she worked in Central London hospitals with single, pregnant women while her husband was based in the United Kingdom. They had four children.
She served on the Doncaster and Templestowe Council from 1990-94 after a period of establishing community services in Warrandyte.
During the 1990s she spent ten years working for the Caroline Chisholm Society Pregnancy and Family Support which assisted women and young families in the western suburbs of Melbourne.