Following an abusive childhood, Pankhurst would go on to work in different fields as a sex worker, taxi receptionist, and the first female funeral director in Victoria.

[1]: 27  Pankhurst was forced to live in a bungalow that her father built, excluded from the family home, and denied food and access to the bathroom.

At age thirteen, she started working part-time at a local barber shop, spending her pay on clothing and gifts for her siblings, some of which were destroyed by her adoptive father, who continued to regularly abuse her.

[1]: 28  The father forced her to join army cadets after Pankhurst refused to engage in play with other boys and sought the company of girls.

[4] Then known as Stephen, Pankhurst left her wife Maureen (known as Linda in her biography) and started dancing in St Kilda before turning to prostitution in order to cope financially.

[5] The life of Pankhurst was documented in The Trauma Cleaner, released in 2017 and written by Sarah Krasnostein, which was critically acclaimed, winning the Douglas Stewart prize for non-fiction at the 2019 New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards.

[7] Pankhurst had severe pulmonary disease, suspected to have been acquired from her early years of working as a cleaner without appropriate personal protective equipment.