[1][2] Hicks was born in Melbourne, Victoria, and grew up on a farm in Byron Bay, New South Wales.

She set her sights on acting as a career after appearing in a production of Marat/Sade at Trinity Catholic College in Lismore.

She then starred as Heidi Wilson in Rescue: Special Ops (2009–11) which saw her nominated for a Logie Award for Most Popular New Female Talent in 2010.

The same year, she landed her breakthrough role in Winners & Losers playing the character of Sam MacKenzie, for which she won an ASTRA Award for Most Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor.

In 2012, Hicks had a starring role as Angie in feature film Black & White & Sex and appeared in the TV movie Devil's Dust as Janice.