She completed her medical training in Adelaide hospitals before commencing full-time duty with the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) in January 1989, having joined the service in 1985.
She is also a graduate of the Centre for Defence and Strategic Studies and the Harvard Business School Advanced Management Program.
She served in Iraq and Afghanistan from 2003 to 2004,[3] and was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia in the 2012 Queen's Birthday Honours.
[3][4] Smart was promoted to air vice marshal in November 2015 and succeeded Rear Admiral Robyn Walker as Commander Joint Health and Surgeon General of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) on 3 December 2015.
[3] She was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia in the 2019 Queen's Birthday Honours,[5] and handed over Joint Health Command to Rear Admiral Sarah Sharkey on 4 December that year.