 On 31 July 1913 Swinburne retired from parliament to become a member of the Inter-State Commission appointed by the federal government.A host of matters was referred to the commission, and Swinburne thought it right to resign from all his directorates and practically abandon the business career in which he had been so successful.Much work was done by the commission and it is due to a suggestion made by this body that the "Advisory Council of Science and Industry" (later to become the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation) was eventually established.