The first camel in Australia was imported from the Canary Islands in 1840 by Horlock. The next major group of 24 camels came out in 1860 for the ill-fated Bourke and Wills expedition. The first time Giles the explorer used camels he traveled 220 miles in 8 days without giving water to the camels. He later went from Bunbury Downs to Queen Victoria Springs(WA), a distance of 325 miles in 17 days and gave one bucket of water to each camel after the twelfth day.

Camel studs were set up in 1866, by Sir Thomas Elder at Beltana Station in South Australia. These studs operated for about fifty years and provided high class breeders. Working camels bred in Australia were of a superior quality to those imported. Imports continued until 1907 from Palestine and India as there was a need for large numbers of cheap animals.

An estimated 10,000 to 12,000 camels, imported into Australia between 1860 and 1907, were used as draft and riding animals by people pioneering the dry interior. Camels played a significant role in construction of the south to north transcontinental telegraph line, the east to west transcontinental railway, the famous north-south dingo(wild dog) proof fence, pioneering of the Canning stock route and general transport of wool, ore etc.

The very big camel teams of Western Australia and the Centre consisted of 70 camels and 4 Afghans. Normally they traveled between 20-25 miles a day in desert country. The teams would collectively carry between 16-20 tons on their backs. A large bull camel was expected to carry up to 12 hundredweight (600kg), and small camels from 6 to 8 hundredweight (300-400kg).

With the introduction of motorised vehicles in the early twentieth century, the use of camels significantly decreased. Most of the camels were released in the mid 1920s. They established free-ranging herds in semi-arid desert areas of Australia.

Camels in Australia are scattered through the arid interior of Australia with an estimate of 50% in Western Australia, 25% in Northern Territory, and 25% in western Queensland and northern South Australia. It is estimated that there are over 400,000 camels presently running wild in Australia.