qantas has a great deal from nyc. nyc to several au locations for U$1148. you have to book by july 31st so hurry. this is a fantastic price from nyc.
you also get a free stopover in LA and you get get another stopover in au for $100 (which is worth it as you’d pay more for a flight here). book for melb, sydney, and several other places that aren’t worth it (hobart, canberra) and some that might be worth it (cairns, alice springs, darwin, perth).
if u click thru the see the deal page, you’ll notice direct from LA is like u$848/948. so if u have freq flyer points or see a cheap fare to LA, might be better to do that.