He became a teacher in regional Victoria from 1869 to 1883, when he began working in journalism in Shepparton.

On 11 April 1882 he had married fellow schoolteacher Genefor Deborah Perry, with whom he had a daughter.

He also founded a butter company in 1888, which eventually expanded to include cheese, poultry, rabbits and fruit.

In 1902 Livingston was elected to the Victorian Legislative Assembly for Gippsland South.

A key member of the Country Liberals faction in the Nationalist Party, he was again a minister without portfolio from February to June 1921.