She was born in Sydney and attended Eastwood Public School and Our Lady of Mercy College in Parramatta.
She was a teacher from 1967 to 1972 and then became electorate secretary to federal MP John Kerin; she also ran as the Labor candidate for Nepean at the 1973 state election.
In 1978 she was appointed Director of the office, a position she held until 1983; during this period she was also convenor of the Women's Film Fund Advisory Panel and the Australian delegation to the World Conference of the UN Decade for Women in 1980.
[1] In 1984, Taperell moved to the Department of Foreign Affairs, and in 1986 she worked for the Special Minister of State.
She became a senior adviser to the Minister for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs in 1990.