Relieved by the 8th Brigade at Sio, the brigade was moved back to Finschhafen in February ahead of their withdrawal back to Australia for leave and reorganisation around Ravenshoe. The role of Australian troops in the Pacific had largely been taken over by US troops by this time, leaving the Australian troops with a limited combat role in the last years of the war in the Pacific. As a result, a long period of training followed while they waited for another assignment. This came in the final months of the war, when the 20th Brigade was assigned to the capture of North Borneo. Staging out of Morotai in April 1945, the brigade landed around Brunei Bay on 10 June. While the 24th Brigade landed on Labuan, the 2/17th and 2/15th Battalions from the 20th Brigade landed on the southern side of the bay, around Brooketon and Muara Island; the 2/13th was held back in reserve. There was only limited opposition to begin with and by 13 June Brunei had been captured by the 2/17th. The 2/13th was landed at this point at Lutong, and moved along the coast, pushing the advance towards Kuching. By late June, the brigade's headquarters had been established at Kula Belait, and the brigade had begun regular patrols as civil infrastructure was rebuilt. These continued until the end of the war when occupation duties saw the brigade oversee the surrender of the Japanese forces that remained in Brunei and Sarawak.