She was elected to the New South Wales Legislative Assembly as the member for Swansea for the Labor Party at the 2015 New South Wales state election.
[2] Formerly a librarian with the Lake Macquarie City Council, she has worked in the offices of Federal Labor MPs Greg Combet and Anthony Albanese.
She is married to Robert Coombs who himself served as the member for Swansea from 2007 to 2011.
After the 2023 New South Wales state election, Labor formed a minority government and Catley was appointed as Minister for Police and Counter-terrorism.
She was also appointed as Minister for the Hunter in August 2023 following the resignation of Tim Crakanthorp.