She completed a Bachelor of Arts at the University of Sydney and was a former joint owner of the H Ranch at Milton and was a high school teacher at Ulladulla for 26 years.

[6] Prior to the 2007 election, local and metropolitan journalists received phone calls encouraging them to print false allegations that Hancock and her husband had been involved in the making of pornographic films.

[7] The source of the phone contact was revealed to be a staff member of the Labor Party candidate Michelle Miran, an employee of the NSW Department of State and Regional Development.

Further to the historic restorations, she has overseen improvements to the modern office buildings housing member and parliamentary staff, as well overseeing upgrades to disability access and facilities.

[citation needed] As Speaker, Hancock has sought to address a number of issues on the parliamentary precinct where there was disparity in what was available to women, and what was available to men.

[13][14] Hancock presided over an incident in the Legislative Assembly where she was forced to call upon the Sergeant-at-arms to remove Michael Daley, a senior Labor Party shadow minister, who was accused of drunken misconduct in the chamber.

[19] Hancock was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia in the 2024 King's Birthday Honours for "service to the people and Parliament of New South Wales".