Helen Pavlin completed a Masters of Social Work at the University of Queensland in 1975. She has worked as a social worker and counsellor in Queensland and more recently the Northern Territory (NT), where she has been a member of the NT branch of the Australian Society of Authors and also the Australian Association of Social Workers.
Although she has written short stories which have been read on National Radio and published in Australia and Europe, her favoured form of expression is poetry. Pavlin has drawn inspiration from her work, friends and children, and her poetry has appeared in journals and anthologies, including Social Images 1891-1991. She has also worked as an associate editor for the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Family Therapy, and has published and edited material on social work and counselling.