Prior to European settlement, the Brisbane region was occupied by Aboriginal tribes, notably the Jagera and Turrbal Aboriginal clans. Before European settlement, the land, the river and its tributaries were the source and support of life in all its dimensions. The river's abundant supply of food included fish, shellfish, crabs and shrimps. The good fishing places became campsites and the focus of group activities. The district was characterized by open woodlands with rainforest in some pockets or bends of the Brisbane River.
Being a resource-rich area and a natural avenue for seasonal movement, it was already in much use by groups passing through on their way to ceremonies, fights and other events. Brisbane region had several large (200 - 600 person) seasonal camps, the biggest and most important being located on strings of waterholes directly north and south of the current city heart: Barambin or 'York's Hollow' camp (today's Victoria Park) and Woolloon-cappem (Woolloongabba/ South Brisbane) - also known as Kurilpa. These camping grounds continued to function well into historic times.
The region was first explored by Europeans in 1799, when Matthew Flinders explored Moreton Bay during his expedition from Port Jackson north to Hervey Bay. He made a landing at what is now Woody Point in Redcliffe and also touched down at Coochiemudlo Island and Pumicestone Passage. During the 15 days he spent in Moreton Bay, Flinders was not able to find the Brisbane River.
A permanent settlement in the region was not founded until a quarter century later, when New South Wales Governor Brisbane was petitioned by free settlers in Sydney to send the worst convicts elsewhere.
On 23 October 1823, Surveyor General John Oxley set out with a party in the cutter "Mermaid" from Sydney to "survey Port Curtis, Moreton Bay and Port Bowen, with a view to forming convict settlements there". The party reached Port Curtis on 5 November. Oxley suggested that the location was unsuitable for a settlement, since it would be difficult to maintain.
As he approached Point Skirmish into Moreton Bay, he noticed several Indigenous Australians approaching him, one whom they described as being 'much lighter in colour than the rest'. The white man turned out to be a shipwrecked timbergetter by the name of Thomas Pamphlett who, along with John Finnegan, Richard Parsons and John Thompson, had left Sydney on 21 March of the same year to sail south along the coast to bring cedar from Illawarra but during a large storm were pushed north. Not knowing where they were, they attempted to get back to Sydney, eventually being shipwrecked on Moreton Island on 16 April. They had been living with the Indigenous tribe for seven months.
After meeting with them, Oxley proceeded approximately 100 km up what he later named the Brisbane River in honour of the then-Governor Brisbane. Oxley explored the river as far as what is now the suburb of Goodna in the city of Ipswich, about 20 km upstream Brisbane's central business district. Several places were named by Oxley and his party including Breakfast Creek (at the mouth of which they cooked breakfast), Oxley Creek and Seventeen Mile Rocks.