Based in Mount Waverley, Victoria, Chimaera Publications was set up by Dirk Strasser and Stephen Higgins, sometime around 1989/1990, in order to publish the speculative-fiction magazine Aurealis: Australian Fantasy and Science Fiction. The first issue, released in April 1990, included short stories from George Turner, Michael Pryor, Terry Dowling, and Susan Isle among others. The magazine has since featured stories that have won a number of prestigious literary awards, including at least five Aurealis Awards and a Ditmar Award. More than twenty others have also been short-listed for awards.
In 1995, Chimaera established the annual Aurealis Awards, which recognise achievements in Australian speculative fiction. Although Chimaera owns the awards, they have been administered by several independent organisations, including Fantastic Queensland (2004-2009) and SpecFaction NSW Inc. (2010-).
The awards have also been hosted in Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, and Adelaide. In addition to Aurealis, Chimaera also publishes books. One of its earliest titles was Richard Harland's award-winning 2004 novel The Black Crusade, which won the 2004 Aurealis Award for Best Horror Novel, was named 2004 Golden Aurealis winner, and won the 2005 Ditmar award for best artwork (for Kerri Valkova). The book was also short-listed for the 2005 Ditmar Award for best novel.
