It was led by Cory Bernardi, who had been elected to the Senate for the Liberal Party,[8] but resigned citing disagreements with the Liberal/National Coalition, its policies and leadership under Malcolm Turnbull.

Brokenshire was not re-elected at the 2018 state election, and Hood left the Conservatives to join the Liberal Party,[9] leaving Bernardi as the sole remaining member in federal parliament, whose term in the senate ran until 30 June 2022.

[10][11] Bernardi deregistered the party following the re-election of the Coalition Morrison government at the 2019 Australian federal election, citing a lack of political success and poor financial position.

[14] The group was announced by Bernardi on his personal blog as a conservative "movement" to "help change politics and to give common sense a united voice".

[14] Bernardi cited the results of the 2016 federal election as a motivator for the group's establishment, stating that "over 1.7m votes were cast for right-of-centre or conservative parties rather than the Liberals", and that "the clear mission now is to bring people together for the good of the country.

[19][20] Queensland Liberal National Party MP George Christensen was one of the first Coalition members of Parliament to support Bernardi and the Australian Conservatives, following his shared dissatisfaction with the election results.

[30] Although dissatisfaction with the leadership of the Coalition was still shared by many in Parliament, numerous members have since denied any intention to join the Australian Conservatives,[22] with most of them strongly criticising Bernardi—some described his move as a "betrayal".

[citation needed] Though it had no formal affiliation with any particular religious organisation, Family First was strongly linked to the Pentecostal church in South Australia, and nationally with smaller Christian denominations.

Robert Brokenshire lost his bid for reelection, and parliamentary leader Dennis Hood defected to the Liberal Party, which nine days prior had won government in the state election.

Bernardi said that in addition to the party's poor showing at the polls, he believed that the Coalition's upset victory under new Prime Minister Scott Morrison proved that "common sense" had returned to Canberra, which was "all we, as Australian Conservatives, have ever sought to do.