[2] She spent a year as a theatre major at Curtin University[1] before winning a place at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts in Perth where she obtained an acting diploma.

[3] She had minor roles in Australian television series such as: Snowy River: The McGregor Saga (1996), Water Rats (1996–97), Big Sky (1997), and Stingers (1999).

In 2003, she landed the lead role of Judy Surgick in the short-lived CBC TV sitcom An American in Canada (2003–04)[2] which was a 2003 Gemini Award nominee for Best Ensemble Performance Comedy Series/Program.

[5] Although she played a different character in Under the Dragon's Tail, the third made-for-television film about William Murdoch and his unique ways of doing detective work, the book's author, Maureen Jennings, was so impressed with Joy's acting ability that she successfully pressed the TV show's producers to select her for the role of Dr. Julia Ogden.

[2] She supplied the voice of Sunnyside and Shelly in The Eggs (2004), Gabby and Polly in Faireez (2005), Patsy and Mrs. Berton in The Secret World of Og (2006), Opal in Pearlie (2009), and Vice Principal Victoria in Detentionaire (2012).

[citation needed] In 2011, and again in 2012, she was nominated for Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series for her work in Murdoch Mysteries by the Monte-Carlo TV Festival Awards.