[2] Following the Latvian Declaration of Independence in 1918, from 1919 to 1921, Latvia and also Estonia were represented in Australia by the Finnish Consul in Sydney, Harald Tanner, with Finland being another country that had emerged from the dissolution of the Russian Empire.

On 1 September 1921, formal relations between the two countries began when the Governor General of Australia recognised the appointment Carl Michael Alksne as the Consular Agent of the Republic of Latvia in Sydney, succeeding Consul Tanner, and Australia recognised Latvia on its admission to the League of Nations on 22 September 1921.

[11] Latvian honorary consulates were also opened in Adelaide and Brisbane, with the appointment of Charles Seymour Toms in October 1928, and Frederick William Sabine in March 1929, respectively.

[15] In July 1936 McLeod became the first Australian to be awarded the rank of Commander of the Order of the Three Stars by the President of Latvia, Kārlis Ulmanis.

By March 1949, in a Senate debate on the United Nations General Assembly's Third Session, the Minister for Health and Social Services, Senator Nick McKenna, noted the status quo of the situation:[21] "The Australian Government has not recognized, and does not intend to recognize, the absorption into the Soviet Union of the formerly independent republics of Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia.

It was something which took place as a result of a disgraceful, shameful and discreditable treaty signed in Moscow in 1939 between Stalin and Ribbentrop, the then nazi Foreign Minister.

[27][28] On 27 August 1991, Prime Minister Bob Hawke, announced Australia's decision to re-establish full diplomatic relations with Latvia.

[30] When the new government of Prime Minister John Howard cut the budget of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade in 1996–97, forcing the closure of the embassy in Copenhagen, Denmark, in May 1997, accreditation for Denmark, Iceland, Latvia, and Lithuania, was transferred to the embassy in Sweden, which remains responsible for Australia's relations with Latvia today.

[38][39] An extradition treaty between Australia and Latvia was signed in Riga on 14 July 2000 by Australian Ambassador Stephen Brady and Latvian Justice Minister, Ingrīda Labucka.

[44] The first Russian ship to anchor in Sydney in 1807 was captained by Ludwig von Hagemeister, a Latvian of the Baltic German nobility who was born in 1780 in Drostenhof (now known as Drusti).

[50] The Lettish Association of Sydney was established in the home of Jānis Ieviņš at 30A Argyle Place in Millers Point in 1913, with a membership of 36 by 1915.

[50] The occupation of Latvia from 1940 and the end of the war in Europe in 1945, resulted in a significant influx of refugees from the Baltic states to Australia.