Carberry studied at the Royal Naval School Tal-Handaq in Malta, then at the University of Sussex.

She began working for the TUC in 1978,[1] and in 1988 was appointed as the first head of its Equal Rights Department.

[2] In 2003, she was appointed to the vacant post of Assistant General Secretary of the TUC.

She is a commissioner of the Low Pay Commission, a board member of Transport for London, a trustee of the People's History Museum, a director of TU Fund Managers, an alternate member of The Takeover Panel and an honorary fellow of St Hugh’s College Oxford.

[4] Carberry was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2007 Birthday Honours, for services to Employment Relations.