The TCR formula was introduced in 2014 by WSC Group to provide a cost-effective alternative to prototype racing for teams seeking to compete with production-derived touring cars. The regulations centre on four or five-door front-wheel-drive vehicles powered by 2.0-litre turbocharged engines. Performance parity between different models from different manufacturers is managed through a Balance of Performance system, which allows cars from Alfa Romeo, Audi, Honda, Hyundai, Volkswagen, and other marques to compete on even terms without requiring identical machinery. The format spread rapidly from Europe into a network of global and regional championships and was adopted as the basis for the World Touring Car Cup from 2018 onwards.
Plans for an Australian TCR championship were discussed as early as 2016, with early proposals including invitational entries at the Bathurst 12 Hour and a joint series shared between the Shannons Nationals and the Supercars Championship from 2017. A later 2017 proposal placed TCR cars in a support class to the Australian GT Championship's GT Trophy series before a standalone series launched in 2018. Neither plan came to fruition. In January 2018, the Confederation of Australian Motor Sport secured the rights to develop a TCR series in Australia beginning from 2019, with the Australian Racing Group subsequently named as the series promoter.
The inaugural 2019 season featured a seven-round calendar run at Shannons Nationals events. Seventeen entries represented eight manufacturers: Alfa Romeo, Audi, Holden, Honda, Hyundai, Renault, Subaru, and Volkswagen. Teams from the Supercars Championship paddock, including Garry Rogers Motorsport, Kelly Racing, and Matt Stone Racing, prepared cars and brought professional infrastructure to the new series.
Former Bathurst 1000 winner Jason Bright became the championship's first race winner, taking victory at Sydney Motorsport Park in a Volkswagen Golf GTI TCR. Will Brown, driving a Hyundai i30 N TCR, won both Sunday races at the opening round and established early dominance, winning four further races during the season to clinch the inaugural championship at Sandown Raceway with one round remaining.
The 2019 season attracted notable guest drivers from the international touring car community. World Touring Car Cup regulars Jean-Karl Vernay and Néstor Girolami each won races during their single appearances. Former Supercars champions Garth Tander and Russell Ingall also entered selected rounds, providing high-profile competitive appearances that raised the series' profile.
For 2020 the series planned to expand its calendar to include a round at Mount Panorama Circuit as part of the Bathurst 6 Hour Easter weekend. An additional non-championship event, the TCR Asia Pacific Cup, was scheduled at the Australian Grand Prix after a bid for TCR Australia to appear as a support category to the Adelaide 500 was rejected. The Seven Network entered a broadcast agreement to show races live in Australia, supplementing the free-to-air SBS coverage that had been in place since the inaugural season.
The series encountered increasing difficulty sustaining competitive fields in its later years. The 2025 season was truncated due to a lack of competitor interest, with insufficient entries to support a full calendar. Efforts to revive the championship on a reduced scale, centred around events at The Bend Motorsport Park in South Australia, were ultimately cancelled in March 2026 before they could be implemented.
All TCR Australia races in the inaugural 2019 season were broadcast live in Australia on the free-to-air network SBS, and were also streamed online. The Seven Network took over broadcast rights for 2020, providing another major free-to-air platform for the series during what was intended to be a period of growth.