Street was born on 11 October 1932 in Melbourne,[6] the daughter of a medical researcher.[1] She earned a bachelor's degree in chemistry from the University of Melbourne in 1954,[6][7] while working there as a tutor in chemistry[6] and also studying mathematics.[7] She finished a master's degree in chemistry at Melbourne in 1956.[4][6][8] During this time she married another Melbourne chemist, Norman Street, and in 1957 the Streets and their young daughter moved to the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign where Norman Street had a new job.[7]