In 1985, Jill Henry joined the Australian Federal Police and over the next 15 years, while based in Sydney, her work involved general crime, drug seizures and fraud cases. Dissatisfied with 'plain clothes' policing, she applied for overseas peacekeeping roles and was offered a post in East Timor with the UN. In 2000, she was relocated to the former Portuguese colony where she was an officer in the Vulnerable Persons Unit, dealing with crimes of sexual abuse, rape, child abuse and incest. The 6-month posting in East Timor was a springboard to 7 more overseas postings, including Cyprus, the Solomon Islands, Jordan - where Jill trained Iraqi police recruits on human rights and crimes against people and property. This was followed by a posting to a remote Aboriginal community in Australia's Northern territory and then Papua New Guinea.