Appleby held significant management roles over two decades in major international sporting events held in Australia. Her first experience in sports event management involved managing the 1977 Pacific Conference Games held in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory. After this event, she was the Project Manager of 1985 IAAF World Cup Canberra. In 1986, due to the inability to obtain events management work in Canberra, she took up a position as General Manager in the Tasmanian Department of Sport and Tourism. In 1991, the Brisbane Lord Mayor Sally Anne Atkinson lured her to Brisbane, Queensland to manage two large masters athlete sporting events - Australian Masters Games in 1991 and 3rd World Masters Games in 1994.