[2] Women had begun playing rugby in Australia hand-in-hand with the expansion of the game, with the earliest documented matches in the regional areas of New South Wales during the late 1930s.

Following the first women's rugby union Test match in 1982 and the inaugural Women's Rugby European Cup in 1988 that saw Great Britain, France, the Netherlands and Italy play, the British side was replaced by their regional sides, with England and Wales playing their first matches in 1987, before being joined by Canada and the United States later that year.

Progress was slow for the Wallaroos in terms of game time and development throughout the 2000s, with the side playing 16 Test matches during the 2000s, mostly during World Cups.

Test matches against the Black Ferns would resume in 2007, before, under new coach John Manenti the Wallaroos would pick up their biggest win ever in their history during qualification for the 2010 Rugby World Cup, defeating Samoa 87–0.

While they would fall in their semi-final 15–0 to hosts England, they would go on to defeat France for the first time, prevailing 22–8 at the Twickenham Stoop to finish in third place.

With the arrival of a new coach in Jay Tregonning and the inclusion of the Fijiana Drua in Super Rugby Women's, momentum around the Wallaroos began to pick up, with 2022 marking the first time in their history the team had a full international calendar.

However, the side saw notable improvement, achieving their best result so far against the Black Ferns in Adelaide in the Laurie O'Reilly Cup, eventually falling 22–14.

Australia played the opening match of the 2021 Rugby World Cup, stunning New Zealand by running in the first three tries and leading at halftime.

Despite this, the Wallaroos reached the quarter-finals after defeating Scotland and Wales in the group stages, before going down to runners-up England 41–5 in Auckland.

However, Yapp's side would finish the year with several historic firsts, picking up their largest-ever win at home defeating Fiji 64–5.

The year culminated in the team's first-ever major title, being crowned 2024 WXV 2 Champions after going undefeated in the tournament in South Africa, which also saw the side qualify for the 2025 Rugby World Cup.

(Full internationals only) Summary of matches, updated to 12 October 2024: Head Coach, Joanne Yapp, announced the Wallaroos 30-player squad for their European tour and WXV 2 on 2 September.