By October, "Australia" was back in Australian waters. At the start of the month, the cruiser was the only ship assigned to Task Force 74, but she was joined by the destroyer on 13 October, and the two ships arrived at Milne Bay two days later, in case of retaliatory sea attacks on the recently captured town of Finschhafen. The counterattack did not come, and the two ships sailed for Brisbane on 21 October, where the task force was built up to two cruisers and four destroyers. The ships then sailed for Milne Bay, where they remained until they were ordered to Port Purvis on Florida Island, in the Solomons, on 11 November to serve as support for the Third Fleet following the start of the Bougainville invasion. Although "Australia" and the task force arrived on 13 November, they were ordered to return to Milne Bay two days later, as a USN cruiser division had arrived. On 15 December 1943, "Australia" and Task Force 74 participated in the landings at Arawe, through escorting the landing force, then performing pre-landing bombardment. "Australia" also led the landing and escort force for the landing at Cape Gloucester, departing from Milne Bay on the evening of 25 December. At 06:00 on 26 December, "Australia" commenced a two-and-a-half-hour shelling of targets near the Gloucester airstrip prior to the landing, after which she sailed to Buna, where she remained for the rest of the year.