She graduated from the University of Melbourne after residing in what was then Trinity College Hostel and is now called Janet Clarke Hall.
[4] Deakin was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 1918 New Year Honours.
[1] Supported by her husband she worked to prepare the British Red Cross Australian Branch to deal with emergencies whether of natural or man-made cause.
Building on her experience in the first world war the Red Cross again began letter writing.
She had served Janet Clarke Hall from 1926 and in 1961 she joined the board after arguing for its existence in the first place as a separate organisation.