The idea of a gathering of Burke and Wills Enthusiasts started eleven years ago when two groups of enthusiasts met. Richard Cork, Wayne Walker and Garry (Fish) Fischer had been establishing Burke and Wills' route in the Selwyn Ranges. David Hillan and Yvonne Hill had been retracing Leichhardt through the Gulf and establishing Burke and Wills' route north of Camp CXIX. In the course of their research these two groups had been amazed at the wide range of enthusiasts they had met and the diverse interests and backgrounds these historians represented. Over a coffee at Karumba Point they decided to hold a meeting; a Conference where enthusiasts, historians, researchers, surveyors and route-locators could share ideas and resources.

Richard Cork, a surveyor from Gatton in Queensland and his two team members had found the sandstone cave in the Selwyn Ranges that Burke and Wills had sheltered in during a storm on the night of 12th March 1861. As this location was close to the outback Queensland town of Cloncurry, it seemed appropriate to hold the first conference there. Originally planned for 2002, the logistics of staging such an event proved too great and the event was re-scheduled for 2003.

In August 2003, the Inaugural Burke and Wills Conference was held in Cloncurry. Over 35 delegates attended the two day event, with people traveling from Melbourne, Adelaide, Sydney, Swan Hill, Alice Springs, Brisbane, Gold Coast, Cairns, Longreach, Charleville and Bedourie. The delegates at this conference represented the greatest concentration of Burke and Wills knowledge that had ever gathered in one place. The only people who knew more about what went on in 1860-1 were Burke and Wills themselves.

At the close of the Conference, a workshop session was held which established a desire to hold another conference and to incorporate a historical society. A Working Party was elected to investigate these possibilities and John Don, a retired politician from Melbourne incorporated The Burke and Wills Historical Society in April 2005.

Yvonne Hill organised the Second Burke and Wills Outback Conference which was held in the outback Queensland town of Bedourie. This Conference also included a two day desert expedition from Birdsville to Bedourie tracing the Expeditions route. The first AGM of the newly established Historical Society was held in Bedourie. Membership was formalised and the committee wes elected.

A third Conference was held in Birdsville in August 2007, the fourth at the Royal Society of Victoria inMelbourne in May 2009 and the fitfth biennial Conference was held at the University of Ballarat in October 2013.

To commmemorate the 150th Anniversary of the Burk and Wills Expedition iin April 2011, the Society gathered at the Dig Tree in Queensland.