Townend was born in
Melbourne on 20 July 1944. She grew up in
Sydney's lower
North Shore. Townend had her first novel published by Macmillan in 1974. It was described as a precursor to Australian feminist literature and has recently been republished on-line by Macmillan Memento. She then received a 6-month fellowship from the Australian Council for the Arts. In 1975 Townend journeyed to India, returning with a commitment to animal rights. She founded
Animal Liberation in 1976, having been influenced by
Peter Singer's eponymous book; she and Singer co-founded
Animals Australia (as the Australian Federation of Animal Societies) in 1980. She joined the
Australian Democrats, running for election under their banner four times before joining
Milo Dunphy on an "Environment Group" ticket in 1988. At the time she was Secretary of the Australian and New Zealand Federation of Animal Societies, a member of the NSW Animal Welfare Advisory Council and the CSIRO Advisory Committee on the Ethics of Animals in Research. Whilst living at the shelter in Jaipur, she founded two other animal shelters in Kalimpong and Darjeeling. Townend is also an artist. She has held five solo art exhibitions. She has used her art as a means of drawing attention to the needs and interests of animals. She founded
Working for Animals Inc, an Australian NGO with the purpose of raising funds for animal shelters in India. In 2017 Townend was appointed Director and Chair of the Animals Australia Board. In January 2019 Townend was awarded an Order of Australia Medal for 'service to animal welfare'. She died on 15 August 2025. ==Writing==