Six biogeographic subregions of the phoracanthine beetles are proposed on the basis of 136 valid species in all eleven genera of this Australasian group of insects: the Kosciuskan, Western, Eyrean, Torresian, Timorian and New Guinean. Both phenetic and cladistic approaches are employed in the biogeographic study of these beetles. Phenetically, the Kosciuskan and Torresian fauna are the most similar and the least faunal similarity occurs between the New Guinean subregion and all others. Cladistically, two distinct peripheral faunas are divided: the southern Western+Kosciuskan and the northern New Guinean+Torresian+Timorian. The Eyrean fauna in the central Australian continent is more distantly related to the remainder than the latter are to each other. Biogeographic history of the phoracanthine beetles is discussed extensively.