Aitchison, at around about eight years old, started to follow in her mother's footsteps and commenced working at her local library as a volunteer.

[3] In 1985, during the first International Year of Youth, Aitchison was selected to represent her school on an interschool newspaper, which is where she later said was "the start of my activism".

[citation needed] At 21 years of age, Aitchison joined the Australian Labor Party and later that year joined the Commonwealth public service in the Department of Immigration and Ethnic Affairs, an experience where she has later said was "sad yet ultimately hopeful [hearing the] stories of the many thousands of people who had unsuccessfully applied to come to Australia as refugees or migrants.

[3] A year later in 1997 Aitchison met her husband, Robert, and moved to Walcha (a small town in the New England Tableland).

[3] Aitchison was also managing director of tourism company Northern Highland Travel Pty Ltd, where she operated package coach tours across the region.

[1] Following the appointment of Chris Minns as the Leader of the Opposition in June 2021, Aitchison was designated as the Shadow Minister for Regional Transport and Roads.