Her father worked for the New Zealand Post and Telegraph Department for some years, but when she was young, the family moved to London.
[11] For nearly twenty years she was the president of the Wellington Mothers' Helpers Association and was awarded a life membership for her work.
She was instrumental in modernising the organisation and in establishing the Parliamentary Watch Committee, which became an effective advocate for women by making submissions on bills and discussion papers.
[11] Also in that year, she received the Adelaide Ristori Prize from the Italian Cultural Centre, a feminist organisation, for outstanding service.
[10][16][11] Historian Dorothy Page has said that it was only as a result of Tiller asking the National Development Council at a conference session, "Where are the women?