[4] After graduating, Livingstone joined the accountancy firm of Price Waterhouse, working in both Sydney and London.
She then held several accounting and management roles at Nucleus Ltd, finally reaching the position of chief executive, finance, before being made the CEO of one of its subsidiaries, Cochlear Limited, in 1994.
[8] On 22 January 2008, it was announced that Livingstone would be a member of the panel conducting the review of Australia's national innovation system.
[13] Livingstone replaced David Turner as chair of the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) in January 2017.
She said that she knew that she had risked her professional reputation in joining the board, but had been determined to change its corporate culture.
[17] Livingstone became the Chancellor of University of Technology Sydney (UTS) on 1 December 2016,[12] a position she retains as of April 2024[update].