The sport of archery was introduced to Australia by the European settlers in the 18th and 19th centuries and is known to have been a flourishing social activity in the mid-1800s. However, it wasn't until the late 1930s that organised archery on an Australia-wide basis was first proposed by Dudley Preston, a leading archer in Western Australia.

After an enforced interruption due to the Second World War, his proposal came to fruition at a conference of State delegates held in Sydney on 17-18 January, 1948. After the normal preliminaries, the first major item on the agenda was the motion that:

"The Archery Association of Australia be and is hereby formed."

This motion was carried and therefore has to be regarded as the official date of birth of the Association. The meeting went on to consider matters of national and international associations and competitions, including a resolution to affiliate with FITA the interantaiona archery federation.

The first Annual General Meeting of the Association was held in Sydney on the same weekend as the first National Championships - 3,4,5 October 1948.

In 1993, the Archery Association of Australia changed its name to Archery Australia. The Association has been governed by a Board comprised of eight societies (Archery Society of NSW, Archery ACT, Archery Victoria, Archery Society of Tasmania, Archery South Australia, Archery Society of Western Australia, Archery Society of North Queensland and Archery Society of South Queensland). The day to day affairs of the association were managed by a Executive Committee.

In 2001 the Board dramatically changed the constitution, allowing for a more streamlined modern structure following best practice governace principles. The Archery Board now comprises of four elected and up to three appointed Board members. The day to day affairs of the association are managed by a full time Chief Executive Officer.

Annually Archery Australia conduct National Championships; Junior National  Championships (Target Field and Clout), Open National Championships (Target, Field , Clout and Match Play) and Indoor National Championships. A wide variety of disciplines and equipment styles are catered for duing National Championships.

Australia first entered international competition at the FITA World Target Championships in 1965 and its first international medals were won by Graeme Telford and Hans Wright in 1969 (bronze medals in the Target and Field Championships respectively).

Australia was represented when Archery re-entered the Olympics in Munich in 1972 and has been represented at each Olympic Games since.

 In 1977, Australia hosted the 29th FITA Target World Championships in Canberra and again in 1987, the 34th FITA World Target Championships in Adelaide. In Adelaide that the Grand FITA event was introduced which was the first attempt at a progressive elimination competition and the forerunner of the current Match Play event conducted at World Championships and Olympic Games.

Australia has produced many medalists in international competition.

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