The Australian Bustard is a large bird of dry plains, grassland, and open woodland. It eats both plant and animal foods.
Its mainly gray-brown body is speckled with dark markings, and the neck is pale. It has a black crown, white eyebrow, and bold black-and-white wing markings.
It eats plant shoots and seeds as well as insects and small vertebrates. Males perform a conspicuous courtship display.
It lays a single olive-green egg on bare ground or in grass. The female incubates it for 23 days and cares for the young.
It moves in search of food, sometimes gathering and then dispersing again. It picks up food while walking slowly, often at twilight and after dark.
Females are slightly smaller than males. Newly hatched chicks have alternating dark and light stripes.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.