Roosts in rocky outcrop, in vertical crevices, and often in narrow caves under laterite breakaways. Larger colonies may build up in size in disused mines, both in horizontal adits and vertical shafts. They forage in the open above a variety of landscapes, and presumably cover dozens of kilometres per night–home ranges have been estimated at 1,600 square kilometres (Davies and Creese 2009). They also have high fidelity to their roost sites. Females produce a single young, with births occurring anytime from early summer to mid-Autumn (Reardon and Kitchener 2008). Mortality rates are highest in their first year, but reduce significantly after that (Davies and Creese 2009). They may live up to 13 years of age (Davies and Creese 2009).

Endemic to the central areas of Australia in habitats that provide rocky outcrop with caves or crevices for roosting. It occupies the Murchison Region of Western Australia (though not reaching the western coast), as well as the Gibson Desert, and the southern parts of the Pilbara region where it overlaps with the range of Taphozous georgianus, but it does not extend into sandy desert that lacks rocky outcrop. It is also found over most of the southern half of the Northern Territory and some northern parts of South Australia. An outlying colony of 13 individuals was discovered in a cave in the Davenport Ranges near William Creek, in south-western Queensland (Reardon and Kitchener 2008).

This species is known to occur in some protected areas. Roost sites discovered with dozens or hundreds of individuals should be managed to discourage visitation by people, though gating might not be appropriate or effective. Ideally, these sites should be conserved and protected, even though the species is not listed as Threatened. If disused mines must be closed for safety reasons, colonies should first be excluded in such a way as to prevent catastrophic loss of the entire group by trapping them inside, preferably by a process that gradually makes the site less attractive to bats.