During World War I, Carter became a founding member of the executive committee of the Australian branch of the British Red Cross Society.
Carter became interested in the study of the Coleoptera (beetles and weevils), he joined the Linnean Society of New South Wales and was a member of its council from 1920 to 1939, and its president in 1925–1926.
He was able to obtain the help of the leading scientists of Australia, and their articles formed a large and valuable part of this publication.
In his own work Carter gave much attention to matters of synonymy, and published a number of check-lists of the families.
Around fifty of his papers are listed in Musgrave's Bibliography of Australian Entomology 1775-1930, and Carter continued working almost up to the day of his death.