[4] In 1938 Bunning returned to Australia and helped to establish the Sydney arm of the Modern Architectural Research Society (MARS), with Arthur Baldwinson which was modelled on the famous British organisation of the same name.

[5] In 1943 Bunning was appointed executive officer of the Commonwealth Housing Commission writing much of its influential 1944 report,[3] which according to many scholars became a virtual text book for planners.

[3] The dream for postwar planning in Australia for which Bunning highly advocated was displayed clearly throughout the book, with the most prominent example being a proposed attempt to develop Sydney's first satellite town, which according to Freestone was "refined in later writings".

[4]: 208 The same year Homes in the Sun was published Bunning formed his own private architectural firm, joining up with Charles Madden in 1946.

Although Bunning chaired many architectural and planning bodies, he did find time to support other interests, becoming a trustee of the Art Gallery of New South Wales in 1958 and taking over as president from 1974 until his death of a cerebral tumour in 1977.