Sinclair moved to Ballarat at the age of one returning to Melbourne in 1987 to complete a BA in journalism at RMIT (1989). She wrote for The Emerald Hill, Sandridge and St Kilda Times and The Melbourne Times before becoming a technology reporter at The Age.
In 2001 she received a BA in Literature from the University of Melbourne, returning to commence Honours focusing on creative writing subjects. She now continues to and teach at the University of Melbourne.
Sinclair has written fiction as well as literary non-fiction. She has been on the staff of The Age and The Melbourne Times. Her work has appeared in print, in her zine BlueBug, on radio and online.
In 2010, she was undertaking a Master of Creative Writing degree at the University of Melbourne.