Relationships between tropical cyclogenesis (TCG) in the Australian region and modes of various atmospheric and oceanic parameters are investigated for the period 1968-2006. Seven thermal and seven dynamic variables describing the state of moisture transport and wind flow patterns in the atmosphere were analysed. In order to identify the dominant modes of each variable, an empirical orthogonal function (EOF) is applied. The three leading modes of each variable were then considered. This study corroborates previous work showing that El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is the leading contributor to TCG in the all-Australian, Western and Eastern Australian regions. The ENSO-linked first EOF of the streamfunction at sigma level 0.2101 shows the strongest relationship with TCG variations in the all-Australian and Eastern regions correlating at 0.73 and 0.62, respectively. In the western Australian region, the first EOF of environmental vertical wind shear shows the strongest skill. TCG frequency in the Northern region is mainly affected by the large-scale wind patterns of the subtropics and mid-latitudes such as the subtropical jet and the Rossby wave train.