Shankari was raised in Canberra, Australia. She spent a decade in London, working as a lawyer in the social justice field. She eventually returned home to Australia, where she now lives with her husband, four children and their dog, Benji. She uses story-telling to interrogate injustice. As a lawyer, she specialises in law reform, program management and community development. As a writer, her work explores dispossession, cultural erasure and connection.