Education
McRae was educated in Australia and trained as an infants" teacher at the Teachers" College in Frankston, Victoria and commenced teaching at Street Albans, Victoria in 1970, before relocating to Canberra.
McRae was educated in Australia and trained as an infants" teacher at the Teachers" College in Frankston, Victoria and commenced teaching at Street Albans, Victoria in 1970, before relocating to Canberra.
Teaching career
By 1972 she taught at primary schools in Macquarie and Watson. In 1973 McRae travelled to Malaysia with Australian Volunteers Abroad and taught English as a second language at the Mara Institute of Technology. She returned to Australia in 1974, gained employment as public servant in the Department of Education and developed curriculum materials for the teaching of English as a second language (English as Second Language) in Australian primary schools.
McRae worked as a speechwriter in the early days of the first ACT Administration, and in the Australian Public Service Commission where she managed a major review of the impact of Equal Employment Opportunity programs on people of non-English speaking backgrounds.
Political career
McRae was initially elected to the second ACT Legislative Assembly at the 1992 general election, and elected to represent Ginninderra in the Assembly in 1995 general election. McRae contested the 1998 ACT general election, however was unsuccessful in retaining her seat.
During her term in the Assembly, McRae served as Speaker of the Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly, and was responsible for the successful A$12 million project to create a permanent home of the Assembly. Career after politics
McRae worked initially with the Education Network of Australia and then the Department of Health and Aged Care as a Deputy Director.
McRae returned to study and by 2003 had completed a Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice at the Australian National University and graduated with a Bachelor of Laws from Macquarie University.
She commenced employment as a lawyer specialising in residential and commercial property conveyancing and commercial law before teaching real estate and property law at the Australian National University on a casual basis. Since 2010 McRae has lectured in property law at the Australian National University, College of Law.
