Jillian Graham holds a PhD from the University of Melbourne, with a dissertation entitled 'Composing Biographies of Four Australian Women: Feminism, Motherhood and Music'. In addition to a freelance professional writing business, she has worked as a researcher for the Women’s Mental Health Program in the Jean Hailes Research Unit (School of Public Health and Preventative Medicine) at Monash University.
In 2018, she was announced as a shortlisted author for the Hazel Rowley Fellowship, for biographical work on composer Margaret Sutherland.