MELBOURNE: Button led from start to finish, beating teammate Rubens Barrichello and Toyota's Jarno Trulli, with the race finishing under safety car conditions following a late accident.
Barrichello recovered after being slow off the line at the start, while Trulli performed impressively after starting from pit lane.
It was the first time since 1954 that a team had won its debut F1 race, and only the second win for Button in his 10th year of F1.
Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel and BMW's Robert Kubica collided while running second and third with only four laps to go, ending their races and bringing out the safety car.
Reigning champion Lewis Hamilton was fourth for McLaren after starting 18th on the grid, finishing ahead of Toyota's Timo Glock, Renault's Fernando Alonso, Nico Rosberg of Williams and Red Bull's Sebastien Buemi, who got one point in his first grand prix.
For the second year running, Ferrari finished without a point in the season opener. Felipe Massa was running in third place before sustaining a reliability failure on lap 45, three laps after Kimi Raikkonen spun out.
There was a crash at the first corner that ended the race for McLaren's Heikki Kovalainen, and forced BMW's Nick Heidfeld, Red Bull's Mark Webber and Force India's Adrian Sutil to immediately pit, effectively ending their chances.