The 36th Battalion was raised at Broadmeadow Camp, in Newcastle, New South Wales, in February 1916 as part of an expansion of the First Australian Imperial Force, which occurred after the Gallipoli Campaign. The bulk of the battalion's recruits came from New South Wales rifle clubs and along with the 33rd, 34th and 35th Battalions, it formed the 9th Brigade, attached to the 3rd Division. The battalion left Sydney shortly on 13 May 1916, bound for the United Kingdom. Arriving in early July 1916, the battalion spent the next four months in training, before taking up a position on the Western Front on 4 December 1916, in time to sit out an uncomfortable winter in the trenches.