This is the first Australian series to use Ancient Voices, better known to Australians as the theme of the U.S. series Survivor (2000), as its theme.

The airing of this series on Network Ten makes Australian Survivor one of only a few programs of any genre to be seen on all three Australian commercial television networks, following Australian Survivor (2002) on Nine and Celebrity Survivor (2006) on Seven.

The Samoan island of Upolu used as the location of this series had previously been used in four seasons of the U.S. edition of Survivor (2000) - Samoa, Heroes vs. Villains, South Pacific and One World, the nineteenth, twentieth, twenty-third and twenty-fourth seasons respectively.

Following the announcement of the commissioning of the series in November 2015, a casting call was made for potential contestants. The requirements of applicants were to be 18 years of age or older, Australian citizens and able to swim. Just one week after casting was opened, 5,000 applications had been received. By the end of 2015, 7,500 people had applied. The final tally of 15,000 submissions before the deadline of 10 February 2016 was the largest pool of applicants for any Network Ten reality series.

Pia Miranda, who appears as a 'champion' contestant in season 4, starred in Looking for Alibrandi (2000). The actor that played her father, Anthony LaPaglia, is the older brother of Survivor's host, Jonathan LaPaglia.