Of her television milestone, Woodburne said, "It seems both bizarre and wonderful to me that I'm coming up to 15 years on the show, even though the world of Neighbours feels instinctive and familiar, I'm still challenged and rewarded by the work.

[16] She added "One of the upsides of this job is that in a week you might be doing absolute slapstick comedy, you might be doing high drama/tragedy and in between maybe some nice subtle interesting stuff as well, the character keeps changing and evolving depending on who she is interacting with".

[26] Susan strikes up a friendship with local builder, Jim Dolan (Scott Parmeter), as he fights cancer, causing problems between herself and Karl.

[19] Woodburne told Daniel Kilkelly of Digital Spy that she thought the new storyline was great and said any relationship which has been going for as long as the Kennedys' has, will have its "turbulent patches".

[30] Woodburne told Annette Dasey of Inside Soap that Karl knows Martin is taking Susan to dinner and he does not think she would be capable of any "misconduct" with him.

[38] Woodburne told Inside Soap's Jason Herbison that Susan believes the year is 1972 and the night before was her sixteenth birthday, where she drank too much champagne.

"[38] Woodburne added that there was a danger the storyline could cross a line and become silly, but the crew tried to portray the fear a person would feel when everything is suddenly unfamiliar.

[40] In 2006, the society received a phone call from one of the writers who revealed that they had chosen to write an MS story into the show and they had selected Susan Kennedy to be the character that was going to be diagnosed.

[40] MS Australia attended a meeting with the Neighbours writers to help develop a realistic and true portrayal of the diagnosis, symptoms and treatments.

[11][36] In 2011, Woodburne commented on the MS storyline, which she enjoyed, saying it was very challenging to tell a good story and make it authentic and real for people who have the condition.

[44][45] Jackie Brygel of TV Week said Susan has a lot to prove with Paul breathing down her neck, but her new role puts her health in jeopardy when she begins displaying signs of an MS relapse.

[49] Neighbours executive producer Susan Bower also spoke out about the storyline and said "I've had quite a few letters from people in England who'd heard about it before it was even in the papers in Australia saying they disagree and think it's shocking".

Susan begins a relationship with Alex Kinski (Andrew Clarke) after he enrolls his children Rachel (Caitlin Stasey) and Zeke (Matthew Werkmeister) at Erinsborough High.

When Paul is pushed off the Lassiter's Hotel mezzanine, Susan begins investigating who is responsible, and makes Diana Marshall (Jane Badler) her prime suspect.

Paul asks Susan to write a negative article about Ajay Kapoor (Sachin Joab) and the community centre plans, but she refuses.

She later discovers Paul sabotaged Natasha Williams's (Valentina Novakovic) party by inviting gatecrashers to it, so he could continue his vendetta against Ajay and the police station merger.

Susan helps Priya to get her job back by blackmailing Brian O'Loughlin (Paul Denny) into withdrawing his false accusations of harassment against her.

When Georgia Brooks (Saskia Hampele) discovers she is pregnant, Susan supports her as she decides not to confide in her family and the baby's father Kyle Canning (Chris Milligan).

After Karl learns Susan has a secret bank account, which contains her mad money, she dares him to spend big and he buys into the Off Air bar.

When they return, Susan is angry with Karl and later reveals that he tried to bring seeds and a Durian into the country, but was stopped at customs because of the smell, which he blamed on her soiling herself.

Izzy explains that she has been left a large amount of money by her late husband, and offers to fund a new hospital wing on Karl's behalf.

While attending Erinsborough High's leadership camp, Susan and Kirsha Rebecchi (Vani Dhir) become lost in the bush after they lose their group during a walk.

Elly is accused of hitting Xanthe Canning (Lilly Van der Meer) with her car, and Karl and Susan pay her police bail.

Upon returning to Erinsborough for Aaron Brennan (Matt Wilson) and David Tanaka's (Takaya Honda) wedding, Susan learns that a miscommunication means she has been replaced as their celebrant.

After learning that he placed hydrogen cyanide canisters in the school with the intention of killing everything at the graduation ceremony, she comes close to smothering him with a pillow.

"[70] Susan was placed third in a poll ran via soap fansite "Back To The Bay", which asked readers to determine the top ten most popular Neighbours characters.

[71] In a feature profiling the "top 12 iconic Neighbours characters", critic Sheena McGinley of the Irish Independent placed Susan at number four in the list.

[77] They stated, "Kindly but strong matriarch Susan may not be the most medically robust woman (amnesia, multiple sclerosis, frequent questionable haircuts), but she gets by thanks to her family.

[78] Bree Hoskin writing for LGBT website Gaydar said the one good thing to come of Izzy's scheming was Susan finally had her hair cut in an attempt to move on with her life.

Daly further praised the monologue's references to the legacy of Neighbours' past, the images of deceased characters it introduced, and its apparent homage to UK viewers.