Prior to beginning her full-time PhD candidature in 1990, Carey worked as a Grade 1 Occupational Therapist at the Manvantara Geriatric Rehabilitation Hospital between 1981 and 1983.[1] Between 1983 and 1989, she was appointed as a Senior Tutor for undergraduate classes in the School of Occupational Therapy at the Lincoln Institute of Health Sciences.[2] In 1987, Carey was promoted to a Lecturer position in the Lincoln School of Health Sciences at La Trobe University shortly after the two institutes had merged.