This species is found in grasslands, temporary swamps, clay pans and billabongs in arid and semi-arid areas and is usually associated with clay soils. It is able to survive extended dry periods (months to years) in aestivation underground. It is an explosive breeder after heavy summer rainfalls. Spawn is laid in large masses of up to 500 eggs in temporary pools and static waters that develop after heavy rainfall. Larvae are free-swimming and develop quickly before the pools dry up.

This species occurs across a wide area of inland eastern Australia in lower rainfall inland areas of New South Wales, Queensland, southern Northern Territory, and northern South Australia (Anstis et al. 2016). These regions are very flat so the species is known only from low elevations. Populations previously assigned to this species in Western Australia have now been described as a separate species, Cyclorana occidentalis (Anstis et al. 2016).

Conservation Actions In-Place
This species occurs in several protected areas.