Characterisation Kate's early scenes saw her dealing with her mother,
Jill's (Perri Cummings), death in a car accident. Brewer told Jason Herbison of
Inside Soap that following Jill's death Kate was "extremely distressed, upset and confused", making it hard for her to care for her younger siblings. Kate was also faced with having people interfere with her life, which was difficult as she had trust issues. The official
Neighbours website describes Kate as "mature, independent and trustworthy", she is also a proud woman and very protective of her family. She gave up her hobby a couple of years before her mother died, but after encouragement from her brother, she began dancing again. She has also been tasked with organising the Deb Ball, which she decided to make environmentally friendly. This caused her to clash with
Amanda Fowler (
Bella Heathcote), her enemy in and out of school. Brewer opined Kate does have a sense of fun, despite going through so much in her life. further adding: "A lot of people do think it's too soon for another relationship. But I can assure you that it's done very tastefully." Kate was then portrayed as troubled after Declan felt he could not forget
Bridget (
Eloise Mignon), putting their romance in jeopardy. Of this Sorensen praised his and Brewer's storyline, explaining "I'm glad that, some months down the track, all wasn't forgotten. It's such a sad situation. Declan really does like Kate and she feels the same way about him. But his heart won't let him move on". Some viewers still refused to accept Kate's new romance, prompting Sorenson to defend Kate and Declan for a final time. Declan starts a new job and he later lies to his family in front of her.
Erin Mullally (who took over the role of Declan in May 2010) said "Declan's been pushing Kate away, he has so much going on in his life. He's holding on to these massive pieces of information that he feels he can't share with anyone – not even Kate." Brewer said "Declan and Kate are pretty much dead and gone. There's a new relationship in the works that you're about to see, which is really fun and exciting". She also branded the new relationship a "refreshing change for Kate", stating that she is usually the person doing the looking after and she needs to be with someone who can look after her. When he asks Kate out, she initially turns him down. However, when he rescues her from lawyers
Toadfish Rebecchi (
Ryan Moloney) and
Samantha Fitzgerald (
Simone Buchanan), she changes her mind. Kate and Mark's romance moves into "top gear" when they share a kiss in front of Mark's colleagues outside the police station. Brewer said that it had taken Kate a "little while" to realise that she wanted to make things work with Mark because of the unfinished business with Declan. She explained that they both have history, like the lie Kate told to protect Rebecca and Mark's one-night stand, which hurt Kate, and this prevents them from moving forward. Mark does not want to leave Kate behind and tries to convince her to pack up her life and go with him. Of her choice, Brewer said "Kate makes decisions very quickly. She didn't have time to think about the consequences; that was just something she would have to deal with at a later date". The actress admitted that it was "incredibly stressful and exhausting, but the final result was worth it." In November 2012, it was announced that McGregor would be returning as Mark in May 2013. Executive producer
Richard Jasek stated that Mark would return during an
eclipse and Kate would be left questioning whether she had really seen him. In April 2013, Brewer revealed that Mark's return scenes had to be filmed within one week because McGregor was only in the country for a brief time. Brewer told a
Press Association reporter that Kate would be "torn" when Mark returns. She had believed that he had died while he was in witness protection and Brewer admitted that she was also surprised to learn Mark was coming back. Brewer told
Inside Soap Kate is lonely and missing Mark, so she wants to do something to get out of the low place she is in. Kate meets Rhys at Charlie's bar and following a "big night out", she wakes up in his apartment. Kate is shocked as she barely knows Michelle and the confrontation takes place in public at Harold's Store.
Noah Parkin In July 2011,
Orpheus Pledger joined the cast as
Noah Parkin, a student who enrols at Erinsborough High. Noah befriends Kate's sister, Sophie, as they are both into music and enjoy playing the guitar. Sophie develops a crush on Noah, but he does not notice as he has taken a shine to Kate. Kate goes to the local History Wall project, where she meets Noah. Brewer said "Kate feels lost and alone, and needs to tell someone how she feels. She lets her guard down, and Noah's there for her." However, Noah does not get the message and when he tries to get Kate to admit her feelings for him, she calls him a stalker.
Port Douglas Following the Noah incident and the temporary loss of her job, Kate decides to "kick-start her life" and spend some time away from Erinsborough. Brewer told Colin Vickery from
The Advertiser that Kate had been through "a lot of heartache" and she needed the break to find herself again.
Lincoln Lewis joined the cast as Kate's love interest
Dominic Emmerson, a marine biologist. Brewer and Lewis previously worked together on
The Sleepover Club. Kate first encounters Dominic when she loses her phone on the beach, which Dominic finds. Kate is initially suspicious of "smooth-talking" Dominic, but she slowly comes round to him and they have a holiday romance. Brewer stated that she loved the storyline because as well as the Kate and Dominic romance, there was also
Paul Robinson's (
Stefan Dennis) attempt to drag Kate back to Erinsborough and the life she thought she had escaped from. The actress stated "Having now been on
Neighbours for over five years, I really feel like I've done my character justice and the time is right to close this chapter and open the next exciting one. I'm incredibly grateful for the time I've spent on
Neighbours and now I'm ready to challenge myself in a new and different ways. I also want to do more travelling, something I haven't been able to do." Details of Kate's final storyline were released in March 2014. Kate is shot shortly after accepting Mark's marriage proposal. The episodes following Kate's death focused on the search for the person who shot her.
Stephen Montague (
Damian Hill) and Mark's ex-girlfriend
Sienna Matthews (
Sarah Roberts) emerge as suspects. During his appearance on
This Morning, Dennis said the shooter was seen in the episode. He also thought the whodunnit was "really clever" and said it would be dragged out for a while. He added "it takes a long time and everybody's under suspicion." ==Storylines==