The circuit was conceived by Ron Dickson of D3 Motorsport Development, who held international CART rights in the 1980s. Following lobbying by Queensland businessmen and a brief meeting with Premier Joh Bjelke-Petersen, Surfers Paradise was selected over Brisbane for the event. The original layout went through four concept iterations before the final design was accepted; a modification late in 1990 added what became the first chicane to reduce speeds near sections with limited runoff.
Construction was carried out over two months prior to the circuit's opening on 15 March 1991. The project involved erecting seven bridges, installing 2,515 concrete barriers, assembling 11,500 grandstand seats, fitting more than 140 corporate suites, and laying 10 km of debris fencing and 16 km of security fencing. The construction process has been cited internationally as a benchmark for temporary street circuit delivery.
The circuit opened with a round of the 1991 IndyCar season. For eighteen years it hosted an annual American open-wheel event, known at various points as the Gold Coast Indy 300 under both CART and Champ Car branding. Following the merger of the Indy Racing League and Champ Car World Series in February 2008, the circuit was intended to continue hosting events until 2013 under the unified IndyCar Series, but the race was dropped from the calendar after a single demonstration event.
A replacement arrangement was reached with the A1 Grand Prix series in November 2008 under a five-year Queensland Government deal. The 2009 event was branded the Nikon SuperGP to remove the Indy trademark. However, A1 Grand Prix's UK operating arm entered liquidation in June 2009, its cars were impounded in the United Kingdom, and the series failed to deliver cars for the event. The round proceeded with additional V8 Supercar races in place of the international series, ending the circuit's eighteen-year association with American open-wheel racing.
Group 3A touring cars first appeared at Surfers Paradise as a support category in 1994 and again from 1996. From 2002, the Supercars Championship (then V8 Supercars) awarded championship points for the Surfers Paradise round. Between 2003 and 2008, touring cars officially shared top billing with the Champ Car World Series and later the IRL. From 2009 onward, Supercars became the headline category. The format shifted in 2010 to a two-driver, two-race format over the weekend, branded the Gold Coast 600. In 2011, Sebastien Bourdais became the first and only driver to win at Surfers Paradise in both a Champ Car (2005 and 2007) and a V8 Supercar (2011 and 2012).
From 2010, the Supercars Championship used a notably shorter configuration. At the Turn 2 chicane the circuit cuts left via a hairpin and rejoins the original layout at the Esses section, reducing the circuit from 4.470 km to 2.960 km. The shortened layout reduced construction costs and materials and minimised disruption to the local residential and tourist area. The full original layout can no longer be used because the G:link light rail line has been constructed over part of the original route.
The Surfers Paradise Street Circuit is the third motor racing venue in the Gold Coast region, following the Southport Road Circuit (active 1954–1955) and Surfers Paradise International Raceway (1966–1987). Its construction practices have been referenced as a global benchmark for temporary circuit delivery. Under the current Supercars Championship, the annual Gold Coast 500 continues to draw large crowds to the beachfront venue, maintaining the Gold Coast's tradition as one of Australia's premier street-racing locations.