Mavis Rose (nee Robinson) was born and educated in Ireland. In Australia, she graduated B.A. Hons and MPhil in Modern Asian Studies at Griffith University, and, later, was an Honorary Fellow at Cornell University whose press published her book Indonesia Free: A political biography of Mohammad Hatta. Her involvement in the Movement for the Ordination of Women led to her completing a PhD in Studies in Religion at the University of Queensland in 1993.
