Available wild-caught (though there are some aquaculture trials for Soft Shell Crabs in Queensland), it is a coastal marine dweller found mainly in bays, estuaries and intertidal areas up to about 60m, most commonly on muddy or sandy bottoms but also on rubble, seagrass and seaweed.
Found around most of the Australian coast, 50% of the commercial catch is from southern Queensland with the remainder mostly from central NSW, SA and WA north to Shark Bay. Caught in traps, dillies and entangling devices, and as a bycatch of trawling.