 Hodgkinson was educated at Canberra Girls' Grammar School and Narrabundah College, and Metropolitan Business College of New South Wales.She was an Executive Officer in the Commonwealth Department of Transport and for Sydney property development companies, becoming Secretary of the Year for the North Sydney region in 1989.She was a Technical and Further Education instructor from 1989 to 1991, owned regional small businesses from 1989 to 1997 and she was Adviser to Senator the Hon Nick Minchin, Special Minister of State and Minister for Industry, Science and Resources from 1997 to 1999.