[7] On 26 October 2017, Ukraine established an Honorary Consulate in Sydney headed by local Ukrainian-Australian businessman, Jaroslav Duma.

[8] Duma was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) in the 2006 Birthday honours for "service to the Ukrainian community of New South Wales and to the credit union movement".

[5][12][13][14][15] The first resident ambassador, Doug Trappett, who was previously Deputy Head of Mission in Rome, had been sent to Kyiv in December 2014 to deal with matters relating to the controversial downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 on 17 July 2014 by Russian-backed separatists in the Donbas region, which led to the deaths of 27 Australian citizens.

[18] Although initially considered an interim measure for 12 months, pending the resolution of the conflicts in the region, with the stalemating of various issues and the hardening of Ukrainian-Russian relations, the embassy's term of existence was extended in February 2016 to September 2016.

[19] In September 2016, the decision was taken by foreign minister Julie Bishop to extend the embassy's term for a further two years with a resident diplomatic presence noting that it would allow Australia: "to work alongside their Ukrainian partners in close cooperation and further develop bilateral ties between the two countries.

"[20] On 13 February 2022, amid increasing tensions immediately prior to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Australian Embassy was relocated from the capital Kyiv to the western Ukrainian city of Lviv.

[21] However, on 22 February 2022, a day before the Russian invasion, Foreign Minister Marise Payne directed that all Australian officials were to leave the country and operate from eastern Poland and Romania.

"[23][24] Additional individuals targeted for sanctions included Vladimir Putin and all members of the Security Council of Russia, alongside an announcement that Australia would contribute lethal and non-lethal military equipment and medical supplies to Ukraine to aid in its defence.

[41] In 2012, Ukraine began a dispute with Australia within the World Trade Organization (WTO) over the adoption of laws requiring uniform plain packaging of tobacco products.