The goals of the society are:[6] A public meeting in Sydney Town Hall on 30 October 1900 resulted in a resolution that an "Australian Historical Society" would be formed, in order to collect and preserve records, prints, photographs, books and other material relating to the history of Australia.

[11] The society undertakes a range of activities including lectures and workshops, functions, walks, talks, and visits on a wide variety of topics in Australian history.

It holds an annual conference which addresses current historical issues in local history and heritage.

The society also has a research library with an extensive collection of pictorial and text resources on all aspects of the history of New South Wales.

In addition it administers grant schemes on behalf of the New South Wales government for the promotion of heritage and the writing and publication of local history.

[Note 2] The first issue included a paper by Alfred Lee entitled "The Landing of Governor Phillip in Port Jackson".

Improvements in design and the addition of illustrations were introduced in Volumes II and IV (1917), and at the same time the editors announced a shift in editorial direction.

[19] The peer-reviewed, biannual academic journal[20] containing original, previously unpublished scholarly articles and book reviews and images.

[14][15] Past issues under their respective titles (1901–June 1918 and 1918–1964) are available online as scanned copies,[21][22] and the Journal is available as an electronic resource via Informit since 2012.