Millar began her journalism career in newspapers, with a cadetship for The Gympie Times and then Brisbane's afternoon tabloid newspaper, The Sun, until it closed down. Lisa next moved north to Townsville, where she worked for the regional television broadcaster, WIN TV, for a year, after which she crossed to the ABC as its North Queensland correspondent, covering a large area stretching from Torres Strait to the outback mining community of Mount Isa, and down to the Whitsunday island chain. Millar then worked in the federal Press Gallery in Canberra for the ABC, including during the 1996 Federal Election campaign, which saw John Howard become Prime Minister. Millar moved back to Queensland where she became ABC's state political reporter, covering the rise and fall of Pauline Hanson and her party, One Nation. She was elected president of the 30-strong Brisbane press gallery and was co-anchor of the ABC's state election coverage in 1998 and 2001. Lisa also reported for ABC Radio in Queensland and was a regular commentator on Queensland issues for 702 ABC Sydney. In 2001, Millar was assigned as the ABC's North American correspondent, based in Washington, before returning to Australia in 2005. She was part of the team that won the 2005 Walkley Award for Investigative Journalism for the story that discovered Vivian Solon in the Philippines. In 2007, Lisa was awarded an Ochberg Fellowship by the Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma for creating a DVD to assist journalists who experience grief or trauma. In July 2009, Millar returned to Washington to become the ABC's North American Bureau Chief and held that position for six years. In 2012, she spent several months on assignment to the ABC's Europe bureau in London, covering the Olympic Games and other major stories, before returning to the Washington bureau. In April 2015, ABC announced that Millar would replace Philip Williams as Bureau Chief of the ABC's London bureau from September. In October 2018, Millar returned to Australia to take up a roving reporter/presenter role with the ABC. In December 2018, Millar joined News Breakfast as co-host whilst Virginia Trioli was on long service leave. She filled in on the program until Trioli returned in April 2019. In June 2019, it was announced that Millar would succeed Virginia Trioli as co-host of News Breakfast, commencing on the 19 August 2019.
