Headquartered in Melbourne, Southern Area Command was responsible for air defence, aerial reconnaissance and protection of the sea lanes within its boundaries.

Prior to World War II, the Royal Australian Air Force was small enough for all its elements to be directly controlled by RAAF Headquarters in Melbourne.

After war broke out in September 1939, the RAAF began to decentralise its command structure, commensurate with expected increases in manpower and units.

[7] Wrigley handed over command to Air Commodore Adrian "King" Cole, formerly AOC Central Area, in November 1940.

[12] September also saw the formation of RAAF Command, led by Air Vice Marshal Bill Bostock, to oversee the majority of Australian flying units in the SWPA.

[13][14] Bostock exercised control of air operations through the area commands, although RAAF Headquarters continued to hold overarching administrative authority over Australian units.

[15] Of geographical necessity, the operational responsibilities of the RAAF's southerly areas centred on maritime patrol and anti-submarine warfare, while the northern commands concentrated on air defence and offensive bombing.

67 Squadron was one of several RAAF reserve formations hastily raised to augment the anti-submarine effort, crewed by staff and students from operational training units.

[21] In April, Eaton complained to Bostock that intelligence from British Pacific Fleet concerning its ships' movements eastwards out of Western Area was hours out of date by the time it was received at Southern Area Command, leading to RAAF aircraft missing their rendezvous and wasting valuable flying hours searching empty ocean.

[23] The Air Force shrank dramatically as personnel were demobilised and units disbanded; most of the RAAF's bases and aircraft employed in operations after the war were situated within Eastern Area's sphere of control in New South Wales and southern Queensland.

[28][29] The Federal government retired Jones in 1952 and replaced him with Air Marshal Donald Hardman, RAF, who proceeded to re-organise the RAAF command-and-control system along functional lines, establishing Home (operational), Training, and Maintenance Commands in October 1953.

The first was re-formed from the existing Eastern Area Command, which was considered a de facto operational organisation owing to the preponderance of such forces within its boundaries.