The Intensification debate of the late 1970s–1980s in world and Australian archaeology challenged conventional environmental theories of human behaviour, and the concept of hunter-gatherers in general. It emphasized change and dynamics in past hunter-gatherer societies, arguing against predominant environmental control and comparing, rather than contrasting, hunter-gatherers with other societies such as agriculturalists and horticulturalists. The debate was directed at questions of resource use and economy, demography, and sociostructural change, and it set forth paradigmatic changes and new narratives regarding the conceptualization of hunter-gatherers and their history (prehistory). Discussed here are the debate’s theoretical history and development in the Australian context, its results, its lasting influence and critique, and its continued relevance in debates today.