Natalie is a Research Fellow at the Perth USAsia Centre where she publishes on Indonesian foreign and defence policy as well as Southeast Asian security. She was most recently an Analyst at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) from 2012 to 2016 and Managing Editor of ASPI's blog, The Strategist. She worked previously at the Department of Defence and University of Canberra.

Natalie holds a Bachelor of Arts (Asian Studies) (Hons) from the University of Western Australia and a Master of Arts (International Relations) and Master of Diplomacy from the Australian National University.

In January 2016 and in May 2014, Natalie was a Visiting Fellow at the Center for a New American Security (CNAS) in Washington, DC where she presented on Indonesian civil-military relations. Natalie is currently President of the Australian Institute of International Affairs ACT, having served as Vice President 2013–2015. She hosts Sea Control: Asia Pacific, a podcast series on Asia-Pacific security for the US-based Center for International Maritime Security (CIMSEC). Natalie also joined the team at Bloggingheads.tv as a host for their international relations segment, Foreign Entanglements.

In 2010, Natalie founded the blog Security Scholar and tweets at @SecurityScholar. She speaks fluent Indonesian and enjoys playing the cello and listening to Wu Tang Clan.