On 30 October 1998, the LDS Church's First Presidency announced that a temple would be built in Melbourne, Australia.

Previously, members from the area had traveled twelve hours one-way to visit the Sydney Australia Temple.

Missionary work was slow in Australia until the 1950s when the number of people joining the church suddenly exploded.

Gordon B. Hinckley, the LDS Church's president, dedicated the Melbourne Australia Temple on 16 June 2000.

The temple serves 18,000 members in ten stakes from Victoria, Tasmania, and Southern New South Wales.