ANZUUA was established in 1974 to succeed the Australian Assembly of Unitarian and Liberal Christian Churches. The three Australian churches (Adelaide, Sydney, and Melbourne) were founded in the 1850s and the Auckland church in New Zealand was founded in 1897. Fellowships in Blenheim, Nelson, Wellington and Christchurch, New Zealand, and in Brisbane and Perth, Australia, have been formed more recently. Total membership is approximately five hundred people. All groups, and the association itself, maintain connections with the British General Assembly of Unitarian and Free Christian Churches.

The ANZUUA churches in Adelaide, Australia and in Auckland, New Zealand, are member congregations of the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA). ANZUUA is a member of the ICUU and IARF. The congregations publish their own newsletters and some of them have groups for youth and women.