Coming from the Redcliffe club in Queensland, and coached by Ken Wood, White made her international debut at the 1999 Pan Pacific Championships in Sydney, where she came 7th in the 100-metre breaststroke.

At the Sydney Olympics the following year, White swum the breaststroke leg in the heats of the 4×100-metre medley relay, in the team that trailed the United States home in the final.

White competed at the 2001 World Aquatics Championships in Fukuoka, Japan, coming 9th in both the 50-metre and 100-metre breaststroke events.

She collected her first individual medal at the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester, when she won bronze in the 50-metre breaststroke.

She went on to finish 6th in the final of the woman's 100 breastroke in Beijing and won a gold medal for her part in the 4 x 100 medley relay.