White grew up in Nugent, Tasmania, northeast of Hobart as a sixth generation Tasmanian. She attended Sorell School, Rosny College and the University of Tasmania, where she studied journalism, political science, and international Business management and marketing. She graduated with Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Commerce degrees in 2004. She then worked as a political adviser for Labor MP for Denison Duncan Kerr and later Senator Carol Brown, and was Vice President of Tasmanian Young Labor.