As a legal advisor to the Western Australian Development Corporation, Bishop assisted in the incorporation of several new government enterprises, including Gold Corporation (the operator of the Perth Mint), LandCorp, and Eventscorp (a division of Tourism Western Australia). Robinson Cox merged into the larger firm of Clayton Utz in 1992, and she was made managing partner of the firm's Perth office in 1994. In the same year, she took up an appointment as chair of the state government's Town Planning Appeal Tribunal, serving a three-year term. In 1996, Bishop attended Harvard Business School for eight weeks to complete the Advanced Management Programme for senior managers. She has credited one of her lecturers there, George C. Lodge, with inspiring her to enter public life. In 1997, she was elected to the senate of Murdoch University and appointed as a director of the Special Broadcasting Service (SBS).