It is native to the South Atlantic and islands of the southern Indian Ocean and south-eastern Australia.

The American ornithologist Robert Cushman Murphy and the zoologist Francis Harper described the South Georgia diving petrel in 1916.

[1][2] Its specific name, georgicus, is derived from the South Georgia islands where they identified the species.

[3] A unique New Zealand population is now considered a separate species, the Whenua Hou diving petrel.

[5] Threats to the South Georgia diving petrel include skuas, cats and rats.