Rosemary Follett is the daughter of a court reporter who joined the Australian Public Service but had to resign when she was married.
The daughter of a court reporter, Aubrey Follett, an Anglican, and his wife, Judith (nee Lusby), a Roman Catholic, she was born in Sydney in 1948, and moved with her family to Canberra in 1952. She joined the Australian Public Service after leaving school, and travelled to Darwin and Sydney. She returned to Canberra with the public service, but was made to resign when she married, as was the policy at the time. 
