Lisa Wilkinson AM

Lisa Wilkinson has lived much of her life in the public eye. A Member Of The Order Of Australia, as well as a multi-Walkley-award-nominated and Logie-award-winning journalist, Lisa has been one of Australia’s most admired and respected media personalities for more than four decades.  

Growing up in the school of hard knocks in Sydney’s western suburbs, it’s Lisa’s drive, determination and strong gut instincts, which have led to her blazing an unprecedented and inspirational trail through every corner of the Australian media. 

At just 21, Lisa became the youngest editor ever appointed to take charge of a national magazine, Dolly, and managed to quickly triple the circulation of this teenage bible during the four years of her leadership.

Then, personally headhunted by media scion Kerry Packer to become editor of the iconic Cleo magazine, Lisa made a number of landmark changes to the title over her ten years at the helm, which helped guide Cleo to becoming the No.1-selling women’s lifestyle magazine, per capita, in the world. By now, Lisa’s huge and loyal following and her strong connection to female audiences across Australia was affirmed.

Widely known for her inspiring leadership, Lisa has been a mentor to many who have gone on to forge their own highly successful media careers, including Mamamia.com’s Mia Freedman and long-time Women’s Weekly editor, Deborah Thomas. Lisa was even instrumental in discovering an at-the-time-unknown 15 year-old Nicole Kidman, and giving her her very first magazine cover.

By the mid-to-late 90s as she juggled career and motherhood, Lisa was in demand as a columnist, international magazine consultant, and radio host, eventually making the move to television, first on Foxtel’s Beauty & The Beast, before joining Channel Seven to help launch and co-host Weekend Sunrise, and with the show reaching Number One in the ratings within a few months. Lisa then accepted the offer to join Channel Nine to co-host the Today breakfast show alongside Karl Stefanovic. By 2016 she and Karl had taken the show to Number One in the hotly contested breakfast TV wars, and Lisa remains the show’s longest-serving female co-host.