The LDS Church's first baptism in Australia was in 1842 when Barratt baptised Robert Beauchamp, who would later become an Australian mission president.

[5] The LDS Church was introduced into Australia when William Barratt emigrated from England to Adelaide in November 1840.

[6] At the age of seventeen, Barratt had been ordained an elder by George A. Smith, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, who instructed him to proselyte whenever he could.

[7] Although the success of Barratt's proselyting efforts remains largely unknown,[8] he did baptise Robert Beauchamp in 1842, who became the first Australian convert.

By the end of 1844, Anderson had organised a small branch of the LDS Church with 11 members near Wellington, New South Wales.

[11] Wandell reported that missionary work was difficult because the recent gold rush had caused people to be suspicious about strangers.

Additionally, Wandell reported that the locals disliked Americans, and the missionaries could not locate free food and lodging.

[17] Upon Wandell's departure, a Latter-day Saint periodical called Zion's Watchman was in publication from 13 August 1853 until April 1856.

This was because the early LDS Church encouraged emigration to the United States to gather members together into a physical "Zion".

When the boat Julia Ann hit a coral reef in the Society Islands in 1855, two women and three children drowned.

However, it did not last, and by 1863, leadership had been largely disbanded with the only 200 church members remaining in Australia, scattered across the country.

[11] Previously, from the 1860s until 1898, church leaders in Utah gave Australia little attention, and missionary work was not contiguous.

[32] Generally, there were only four missionaries per district in Australia, and the vastness of the country made it difficult to travel from one side to another for conferences and visits with the mission president.

[33] Additionally, proselyting methods were underdeveloped with outdated teaching plans and the lack of challenges for interested individuals.

[19] Despite issues with circulating anti-Mormon literature, by 1923 the LDS Church was officially declared a "religious denomination" in Australia.

[39] Moreover, Tingey developed a personal relationship with each missionary by exchanging letters and instituted fast days in order to distribute more copies of the Book of Mormon.

Historian Geoffrey Blainey argued that the factors that contributed to the slow growth of the LDS Church in Australia during the twentieth century were due to war, small missionary forces, and the vastness of the country.

[49] The organisation of stakes contributed to the growth of the church in Australia because it relieved the workloads of mission presidents and transferred some of the responsibility to local leadership.

[44] In 1969, the first international seminary and institute program, religious learning groups for high school and college-aged students respectively, were established in Brisbane.

[64] The LDS Church provided extensive humanitarian services and resources to Australian after Cyclone Larry in 2006.

[65] In March 2020, the LDS Church cancelled services and other public gatherings worldwide indefinitely in response to the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.

[citation needed] In 2022, the LDS Church's charitable practices attracted media coverage from The Age, Sydney Morning Herald, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, 60 Minutes, and Crikey.

Since religious donations and tithes are not tax deductible under Australian taxation law, the LDS Church had created a shell corporation called LDS Charities Australia for the purpose of ensuring tax deductible status for church donations and tithes.

Barrister and former LDS leader Neville Rochow accused the LDS Church in Australia of pressuring members to pay tithe, circumventing Australian tax law and called for the Australian Government to investigate the church's financial practices.

[71] In early 1900, some members of the LDS Church received RLDS literature and began circulating it in the large Brisbane branch.

[36] Negative feelings about the practice of polygamy represented another manner in which anti-Mormon attitudes prevented the growth of the LDS Church in Australia.

[78] According to author Marjorie Newton, there are several cultural factors that have prevented the growth of the LDS Church in Australia.

Additionally, Australia has criticised the United States for not becoming involved in the Indonesian invasion of East Timor in the late 20th century.

[81] In order to maintain "stats", missionaries were required to tract in the same neighbourhoods multiple times per week, which bothered residents.

[82] As of 31 December 2022, the LDS Church reported 155,586 members, 41 stakes, seven districts, 236 wards, 74 branches, 143 family history centres, and five missions.