It has two indoor arenas, stabling, plus an education and training building, which is located on the New England Highway approximately five kilometres south of the Tamworth Central Business District in the suburb of Hillvue.

The centre, designed by architects Timothy Court and Company and built by National Buildplan presents a landmark for New England Highway traffic.

The main arena, domed sale ring and six stable buildings incorporate unique, post-tensioned steel truss technology designed by the project's Sydney based structural engineer S2 Corporation, is believed to be a first for equine centres on the world.

[6] On 21 February 2009 the Australian Equine and Livestock Events Centre was officially opened by the NSW Governor, Marie Bashir, before a sell-out crowd of almost 3,500 people.

Professor Bashir commented that the complex takes your breath away and Tony Windsor, Independent MP for New England, stated that AELEC could be compared to the Sydney Opera House.

Six of Australia's best horse riding stunts riders performed, including a blindfolded girl who made a circuit of the arena, without a lunge rein.

The biggest event scheduled in 2008 was the nine-day 35th National Cutting Horse Association (NCHA) ANZ Futurity which featured over $500,000 in the prize pool.

Other uses for the centre include: The bovine and equine industries have strongly supported use of the AELEC complex with bookings for 250 days of the first year of its operation.