 Central Area was disbanded in August 1941 and its responsibilities divided between Southern Area, Northern Area, and the newly formed No. 2 (Training) Group. The outbreak of the Pacific War resulted in Northern Area being split in January 1942 into North-Western and North-Eastern Areas, to counter separate Japanese threats to Northern Australia and New Guinea. Southern Area was also considered appropriate for division owing to its size, so the Air Board proposed assigning responsibility for operational and maintenance units within New South Wales to a new area command, Eastern Area, which would also assume control of units in southern Queensland from North-Eastern Area.
