Austin is best known for her performance as Jill Bennett on CBS series Knots Landing. She played the role from 1984 to 1989, and in 1990 won Soap Opera Digest Award for Outstanding Villain: Prime Time. She also appeared in Quantum Leap, Seinfeld, Matlock, Murder, She Wrote, L.A. Law, and returned to soap roles in Beverly Hills, 90210 and Models Inc.. In film, she appeared in The Vindicator (1986) and Raising Cain (1992).