This species is endemic to Australia. The two subspecies, Bettongia penicillata penicillata and B. p. ogilbyi, formerly occurred in suitable habitat over much of the mainland south of the tropics. Recorded from south-west Western Australia, across southern Australia (including St. Francis Island near Ceduna) to the Great Dividing Range (Finlayson 1958). Oral history research involving Aboriginal people has confirmed that the species also ranged over much of the Great Sandy and Gibson Deserts in Western Australia and into the Tanami Desert of the Northern Territory (Burbidge and Fuller 1984; Burbidge et al. 1988).

The subspecies B. p. penicillata occurred in south-eastern Australia and is now considered to be extinct. B. p. ogilbyi currently occurs as natural populations at Dryandra Woodland, Perup Nature Reserve (and adjacent areas within the Upper Warren River Catchment, as far west as Kingston Forest and south near Lake Muir), and at Tutanning Nature Reserve. Sightings in Fitzgerald River National Park have not been confirmed, despite extensive trapping. B. p. ogilbyi has been translocated to 46 sites in Western Australia, notably Batalling Forest, Boyagin Nature Reserve, Julimar CP, two privately-owned sanctuaries (Karakamia and Paruna), and multiple sites in the northern jarrah forest as part of research into the effectiveness of different rates of aerial fox baiting (Operation Foxglove). There have also been three translocation sites in New South Wales (including Scotia Sanctuary) and 12 in South Australia, including Venus Bay Island A, Wedge Island, St. Peter Island, mainland Venus Bay CP, and Yookamurra Sanctuary. These translocations have met with mixed success, although some are too recent for their success to be measured.