In early 1943, the battalion returned to Australia as the 9th Division was brought back from the Middle East to deal with the threat posed by Japan's entry into the war. After this, training was undertaken on the Atherton Tablelands in Queensland before the 2/3rd were committed to the fighting in the New Guinea campaign around Lae in September 1943. The battalion's main involvement in the campaign was to carry out manual tasks such as unloading and carrying stores. Later, during the Huon Peninsula campaign, they landed at Scarlet Beach, north of Finschhafen, where they served in a defensive role and helped to turn back a Japanese counter-attack before undertaking various construction tasks around Sattelberg.