Justice Austria-Martinez graduated from the University of the Philippines in 1962, earning the degree of Bachelor Laws (LLB). She passed the Bar Examinations given in 1962. She also obtained a master's degree in National Security Administration in 1980 from the National Defense College of the Philippines where she eventually became the Chairman of the Panel of Examiners for Oral Defense in 1987, 1988 and 1991. She also served as a member of the Board of Admission in the same College for the School Years 1991–1993. Justice Austria-Martinez also attended the 31st Program of Instruction for Lawyers held at the Harvard Law School in Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1999.