Prior to European settlement, the area was inhabited by the Mooro group of the Whadjuk people of the Noongar nation.

Land along the Swan River was surveyed by John Septimus Roe, the colony's Surveyor General.

The survey resulted in the land being divided into long, narrow rectangular strips extending from the river.

The colonists were disappointed to discover that most of the area inland was unsuitable for European agriculture, being sand dunes interspersed with swampland.

Most of these colonists either died or left the area soon after, and none of them settled in the present day Embleton, far away from the Swan River.

[3][4]: 8–17 One example of these early colonists is the family of John and Anne Whatley, their children Joan and Mary, and their servants, the Embleton family, who lived at Location T. They arrived in Fremantle in October 1829, and settled on the land in February 1830, but left soon after in September 1830 when John Whatley drowned.

[3][5][4]: 18, 20 In the early 1970s, a site on Broun Avenue was chosen for an aquatic centre to be built and run by the Shire of Bayswater.

The dunes form low-lying hills made of heavily leached white to grey sands, which are poor at retaining nutrients.

Major industries that residents worked in were cafes and restaurants (3.5%), hospitals (3.5%), state government administration (2.4%), other social assistance services (2.0%) and primary education (2.0%).

The portion of Embleton used as public open space is less than the 10% recommended by the state government's liveable neighbourhoods policy.

Hillcrest Primary School and John Forrest Secondary College are located adjacent to the suburb's western boundary.

[23][24] In the Western Australian Legislative Council, both these districts are part of the East Metropolitan electoral region.

[26] When the under-construction Ellenbrook line opens in 2024, Embleton will be served by Morley railway station, located at the Broun Avenue flyover at Tonkin Highway.

[needs update][27] Bus routes serving Broun Avenue and Morley Station: Media related to Embleton, Western Australia at Wikimedia Commons