Also been nominated at the AFI Awards in:
Porter began her acting career in an episode of House Gang, a short lived television program. She then had small roles in other Australian television programs in the late 1990s, including Big Sky, Wildside and Water Rats. In 1997, she starred as Angie in the Australian comedy Welcome to Woop Woop.
Porter was born in Newcastle, New South Wales, to Bill, a Doctor, and Jenny, a nurse. She has two older sisters, Cathy and Jackie, and a younger sister, Louise. Porter attended Newcastle Grammar School and earned a bachelor of arts from the University of Newcastle. She graduated from the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA) in 1995.
In 1996, Porter made her film debut in Idiot Box. In 1999, she had a major role in Two Hands. In 2000, she starred in the film Bootmen and in the crime drama film The Monkey's Mask, which she plays a lesbian private detective who falls in love with a suspect. In 2001, she appeared in the Australian movie Mullet and had a small role in Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones.
In 2005, Porter had a supporting role in the Australian film Little Fish. In 2006, she had a role in the film The Caterpillar Wish which won her Best Supporting Actress in the AFI Awards.
In 2006, Porter had a leading role in RAN, an Australian mini-series, which won her a Best Leading Actress in a Television Drama at the AFI Awards. In late 2007, she appeared in East West 101, a six-part drama series that aired on SBS. In 2008, Porter appeared in East of Everything (a six-part drama series that aired on the ABC) and in the mini-series Make Or Break (an English and Australian production that aired on Foxtel's UKTV).
In 2009, Porter appeared on the second seasons of both East of Everything and East West 101, and first run The Jesters and My Place. In 2010, she appeared on the telemovie Sisters of War as Kay Parker. In 2011, she appeared in the third, and final season, of East West 101. In 2012, she appeared on Channel Ten's mini-series Bikie Wars: Brothers in Arms. She played Pam Knight in Puberty Blues from 2012 to 2014.
In 2011, Porter starred as Olive in the play Summer of the Seventeenth Doll at the Belvoir Theatre, Sydney.
In 2015,Porter starred in "Is this the real world"
