[1] This species can be set apart from other marsupials by two traits; it is both polyprotodont (i.e., several pairs of lower front teeth) and syndactylous.

[4] The northern brown bandicoot has a reverse pouch so it won't fill with soil when digging.

During the dry season, this species lives in thick vegetation consisting of tall weeds, small trees, and dense shrubs.

During the wet season though, the northern brown bandicoot "comes out" and roams open grasslands where sources of food are more abundant.

[6] The northern brown bandicoot is one of relatively few native Australian ground-dwelling mammals that is able to survive within urbanized landscapes.

[7] The northern brown bandicoot makes individual nests or homes on the ground consisting of simple mounds of hay and twigs that are well camouflaged and waterproof.

In general, however, the northern brown bandicoot shows a strong preference for homes in areas of low ground cover.

[4] The Northern brown bandicoot is a host of the Acanthocephalan intestinal parasite Australiformis semoni.

[12] Over the past century, populations of the northern brown bandicoot have decreased after the European introduction of rabbits and livestock into Australia.

[13] The Northern brown bandicoot is known as yok to the Kunwinjku people of western Arnhem Land,[14][15][16] and for those still living on their country is an important food.

It is stuffed with hot coals and bush herbs then covered with paperbark and cooked in a ground oven.