[1] Born Shirley Margaret Stott to a working-class family in Sydney, she studied at St George Girls High School before commencing, but not completing, an art's degree.
[2] With limited career prospects in Sydney, Stott moved to The Canberra Times, and then later was offered a position at The Advertiser in Adelaide—she was the first woman to work on general news for the paper, instead of the "women's pages".
The Australian Journalists Association took the case to the Industrial Relations Commission seeking her return to work for five days a week on full pay.
The AJA's South Australian secretary told an IRC hearing that Stott Despoja's stress was caused by an incident arising over a disagreement with the editor of The Advertiser, Piers Akerman, over the placement of a column, and which the AJA alleged resulted in Akerman threatening Stott Despoja with violence.
[5] In 1963, Stott interviewed Croatian migrant Mario Despoja for The Advertiser about his success on the quiz show Coles £3000 Question.