The race was originally scheduled for Monday 26 March but rain forced postponement to Saturday 31 March. Conditions on the day were sunny. The event was open to light cars of up to 2-litre engine capacity and attracted 30 entries, of which 25 were accepted and 17 ultimately started.
Competing cars were divided into four classes by engine displacement. Class A covered cars up to 750 cc; Class B cars over 750 cc and up to 1,100 cc; Class C cars over 1,100 cc and up to 1,500 cc; and Class D cars over 1,500 cc and up to 2,000 cc.
The competitor setting the fastest overall time was to receive a £100 trophy donated by Charles Brown Kellow and would be regarded as Champion of the Day. Trophies were also awarded for first and second place in each class, and all other competitors who finished within the two and a half hour time limit received a Club award.
The event was conducted as two separate races. Race One, held in the morning, was for Class B and Class D entries. Race Two, held in the afternoon, was for Class A and Class C cars.
Only two cars completed the course without stopping: the Morris Cowley of J. O. McCutcheon and the Austin 12 of C. R. Dickason. Both ran in Race One under Class D.
Race One was won by John McCutcheon in his Morris Cowley in a time of 1 hour 50 minutes and 10 seconds. Cyril Dickason finished second in an Austin 12 at 1 hour 54 minutes and 2 seconds. Third place went to Barney Dentry in a Senechal at 1 hour 55 minutes and 44 seconds. Bill Lowe in a Metallurgique was fourth, Bill Williamson in a Riley Nine fifth, and Les Pound in a DFP sixth. W. A. Terdich retired his DFP after ten laps and Les Jennings retired his Morris Cowley after six laps.
Race Two was won by Arthur Waite in his Austin 7 supercharged with a time of 1 hour 46 minutes and 40 seconds — faster than any Race One finisher and making him the overall Champion of the Day. Arthur Terdich finished second in a Bugatti Type 40 at 1 hour 54 minutes and 45 seconds. Jack Day was third in a Bugatti Type 37, followed by Clarrie May (Austin 7), J. C. Hutton (Alvis 12/50), Tom Davey (Austin 7) and Stan King (Austin 7). Ron Gardner retired his Alvis 12/50 after eight laps and Ed Houn retired an Aston Martin after a single lap.
With Waite's Race Two time the fastest across both races, the overall podium was Waite first, McCutcheon second and Dickason third. Arthur Terdich was fourth overall, Dentry fifth and Jack Day sixth.
Several accepted entries did not start, including Albert Edwards (Austin 7, Class A), B. W. Solly (Opel), Maurice Shmith (Fiat 509), George Saville (Amilcar Grand Sport), Ed Hussey Cooper (Frazer Nash), Sid Cox (Bugatti Type 39), G. A. Wagner (Wanderer) and John Hollway (Darracq).
A dispute exists over whether the 1928 race was genuinely the first Australian Grand Prix. An event held at Goulburn, New South Wales in 1927 was advertised as a grand prix at the time; however, that event was not a motor race but rather a series of elimination sprints. Motorsport Australia formally recognises the 1928 Phillip Island event as the first running of the Australian Grand Prix. The race returned to Phillip Island for the next several years, with Bugatti cars winning four consecutive editions between 1929 and 1932. After a break, the event moved to Mount Panorama near Bathurst in 1938, a circuit that would later become famous as the home of the Bathurst 1000, before a final pre-war edition at Lobethal Circuit in 1939.
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