In its native range A. saligna is confined to southwest Western Australia. It has become naturalized in parts of eastern Australia from Victoria to southeast Queensland. In its natural habitat, A. saligna occurs where the mean annual rainfall is 300 to 1,000 mm. In drier areas it normally receives additional run-on water. The tree ranges from sea level to about 325 m elevation.
Trees are common on alkaline, infertile sandy soils.
In many places A. saligna is more or less restricted to creeks and rivers and disturbed roadsides. It is moderately common along the south coast of Western Australia but is best developed in the deep sands and loams along the water courses throughout the area. Further inland, in the wheatbelt, populations occur at the base of many of the large, granitic rock outcrops. This feed is especially valuable seasonally when other forage is scarce. The tree is used extensively for coastal sand dune fixation in North Africa, the Middle East, and South Africa and for gully erosion control in Uruguay.