Awards and nominations to date:
Garner's first major role was in 1985 at the age of 15 as Tamara in The Henderson Kids, a role for which she won several awards. This was followed by a role in the Australian teen drama Blue Water High.
Garner made her film debut in The Still Point (1986) and appeared in Bushfire Moon (1987), Mull (1988) (for which she won "Best Actress" in the 1988 Australian Film Institute Awards), Metal Skin (1994), Fresh Air (1999), The Book of Revelation (2006), and Razzle Dazzle: A Journey into Dance (2007).
Garner played Arlene Toomer in the BBC comedy series Boys From The Bush for two series in 1991/92. Garner has since had a series of minor and guest roles in multiple Australian and British television series, including Prisoner, My Brother Tom miniseries, Neighbours, The Bill, A Country Practice, The Flying Doctors, Shadows of the Heart miniseries, G. P., Twisted Tales, Good Guys Bad Guys, Raw FM, Tribe miniseries, Class Act, Water Rats, The Love of Lionel's Life telemovie, Changi miniseries – Ep.5, Heroes' Mountain telemovie, Young Lions, The Secret Life of Us, Stingers and Through My Eyes miniseries.
In 2002–03, Garner played in a national tour of the musical Cabaret and received enthusiastic reviews—as well as two theatre awards—for her performance as "Fraulein Kost/Fritzi".
Garner is married to Cameron Barnett, and they have two sons: Eden (born 2006) and Jem. She grew up in the Melbourne suburb of Knoxfield.
Garner played Detective Senior Constable Jennifer Mapplethorpe in the police drama series City Homicide, which debuted in 2007. Starting in February 2013, she has appeared as Jean Beazley, the housekeeper, in The Doctor Blake Mysteries with Craig McLachlan.
In September 2013, Garner appeared as Eve in episode four of the ABC1 television comedy series It's a Date.
