Joan was the second of six children to Dick (Roderick) Scot and Elizabeth Eatock. In the early fifties Joan moved with her family from Brisbane to New South Wales where she reared her six sons. Since then, Joan has been a member of the Communist Party and active in the anti-Vietnam movement; done letterbox drops for the 1967 referendum; attended the first Aboriginal designated course run by Kay Mundine at Sydney TAFE in 1974, and gained her Nurses Registration Certificate. She was involved with the formation of the Greater Lithgow Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Corporation and taught Aboriginal studies at the local prison. Joan has an Advanced Diploma in Adult Education, majoring in Aboriginal studies, from the University of Technology, Sydney. She was also employed as a Development Officer at the Blue Mountains Aboriginal Culture and Resource Centre.
