The division is named after the Australian explorer, John Oxley.

The 1949 incarnation's best-known member was Bill Hayden, the Labor Opposition Leader between 1977 and 1983, when he resigned under pressure the same day that the 1983 election which swept Bob Hawke to power was called.

Hayden later served as a minister in the Hawke government before becoming Governor-General in 1989.

In 1996, the seat became most well known for controversial social conservative MP Pauline Hanson who was elected as a Liberal-turned-independent, but the seat was heavily redistributed in 1997, splitting her main support base of Ipswich between Oxley and Blair.

Hanson's brief tenure represents the only time since 1961 that the seat has been out of Labor hands.