 Easson was born in Melbourne and was educated at Star of the Sea College.She joined the Labor Party at eighteen, and was the Victorian state president and the national vice-president of Australian Young Labor in 1976.She worked thereafter as a political research officer for Frank Crean and Ben Humphreys between 1976 and 1979, as a public affairs manager for Australian Consolidated Industries from 1979 to 1985, a human resources manager with Ansett Airlines from 1985 to 1990 and a business consultant from 1990 to 1993.