Born in Sydney, Bateson grew up in Brisbane where her mother, a journalist, also owned a second hand bookshop. Her father is Ronald Campbell, After completing an Arts degree at the University of Queensland, Bateson moved to Melbourne and later to country Victoria.
Bateson holds a Bachelor of Letters in Literary Studies from Deakin University and a Graduate Diploma in Creative Arts, Women's Studies, from the University of South Australia. She has taught creative writing at Box Hill and Gipps TAFE, and has regularly appeared at schools and writers' festivals.
Bateson writes across a number of styles and genres - poetry, prose, novels, reviews; and for a variety of audiences - children, young people and adults. Rain May and Captain Daniel (2003) was recommended reading for therapists by the Australian Family Therapists Award Committee for Children's Literature.