Astari commenced her PhD studies in winter 2015 as an Australian Awards scholar. She is also a diplomat with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia, an institution that she joined in 2009. She was seconded to the office of the Special Staff on International Affairs to the President of the Republic of Indonesia and became the personal interpreter of former First Lady Ani Yudhoyono. Her other assignments included various foreign policy research and analysis as well as speechwriting tasks. She has also worked for the United States-Indonesia Society (USINDO) in Washington DC.

Astari holds a BA in Foreign Affairs and Asian Studies from the University of Virginia, USA and an MA in International Economics and International Relations specializing in Southeast Asian Studies from The Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University, USA.