The Royal Meteorological Society Australian Branch (RMSAB) was established in 1973. Prior to 1973 the primary forum for Australian inter-institutional collaboration and interaction was a joint monthly colloquia held in Melbourne between the Bureau of Meteorology, the CSIRO Meteorological Physics Section and the Meteorological Department of the University of Melbourne. From the early 1970s discussion began about establishing a Australian membership based scientific meteorological society which would be better placed to focus on the interests of Australian meteorologists than the Royal Meteorological Society (based in the United Kingdom) were Australian meteorologists published and attained fellowships.

A committee was formed under Dr Arch Dyer to prepare a request for the establishment of an Australian Branch of the Royal Meteorological Society. This request was subsequently approved and the Royal Meteorological Society Australia Branch was formerly established in 1973.

RMSAB as an organisation provided Australian meteorologists with opportunities for non-institutional scientific interaction and collaboration through its monthly meetings, interstate centres, conferences, workshops and regular publications (a newsletter and magazine). A number of awards were also established through RMSAB for the meteorological community.

In addition RMSAB also provided advice to government and had an education committee that interacted with the wider Australian public.

In the mid to late 1980s RMSAB began looking to form an independent society. One driver being a desire for greater emphasis on oceanography due to Australia's status as an island nation. Dr Peter Baines played a key role in researching other independent national meteorological and oceanographic societies drawing especially on Canada who had formed their own society after establishing the Canadian Branch of the Royal Meteorological Society.