Madeleine Hamilton completed her undergraduate degree in History at the University of Melbourne and subsequently enrolled as a Doctor of Philosophy candidate. She wrote her PhD thesis on the phenomenon of the Australian 1940s and 1950s pin-up girl which was published in 2009 as Our girls : Aussie pin-ups of the 40s and 50. With Bunny Banyai she wrote a blog and published a book on parenting Sh*t on My Hands (2011).