Bradley began her career as a high school teacher, later coming to work across higher education administration, including working with various Australian universities and serving as a vice-chancellor and reviewer for the Commonwealth Government.
Bradley served on the Commonwealth Tertiary Education Commission in the 1980s, advising government on funding for universities.
Bradley was an influential figured in the early years of the University of South Australia.
In 2008 she led the Review of Higher Education in Australia which resulted in the demand driven system.
[3] She was also actively involved in the Higher Education Council, the Australian Universities Quality Assurance and IDP Australia.