Section 1 consisted of two Victorian teams from the (VFL and VFA), South Australia, Western Australia and Tasmania; Section 2 consisted of New South Wales, Canberra, Queensland and the Australian Amateurs.

Day matches were held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, and night matches were held at the South Melbourne Cricket Ground.

[2] In Section 1, the Victoria (VFL) was the only undefeated team; forward John Dugdale was the carnival's leading goalkicker with 18.

Last place was decided in the match on 11 July, when South Australia's large win over the VFA saw the clubs equal on 1–3, and saw South Australia overtake the VFA on percentage.

In 1958 the All-Australian team was picked based on the Melbourne Carnival.