Following completion of his term as Chief of the Air Staff, Ellington became Inspector-General of the RAF on 1 September 1937. It was in his capacity as Inspector-General that in 1938 Ellington visited Australia to investigate standards in the Royal Australian Air Force. His report strongly criticised the RAAF's operational capability and safety standards. Following the publication of the report in July 1938, the Australian Government dismissed Air Vice Marshal Richard Williams from his post as RAAF Chief of the Air Staff. In July 1939 Ellington was augmented in his post as Inspector-General by Air Marshal Sir Charles Burnett, who would become the RAAF's Chief of the Air Staff in 1940.