The deepwater sharks and rays of the Great Barrier Reef are poorly known and life history information is required to enable their effective management. The shark and ray bycatch from the deepwater eastern king prawn fishery at the Swain Reefs in the southern Great Barrier Reef was examined to determine the species present and provide information on their life histories. In all, 1533 individuals were collected from 11 deepwater shark and ray species, with the Argus skate Dipturus polyommata, piked spurdog Squalus megalops and pale spotted catshark Asymbolus pallidus the most commonly caught. All but one species is endemic to Australia with five species restricted to waters offshore from Queensland. This high level of endemism and geographically restricted distribution is common among deepwater sharks and rays and potentially reduces their resilience to fishing pressure. The life history traits across all species were characteristic of deep water sharks and rays with relatively large length at maturity, small litters and low ovarian fecundity; all indicative of low biological productivity. However, variability among these traits and spatial and bathymetric distributions of the species suggests differing degrees of resilience to fishing pressure. This highlights the need to monitor the bycatch of these species in fisheries within the Great Barrier Reef.