Welcome to Flyer Talk
Samantha J. 
Originally Posted by BearX220
** I do not think you can buy a QF economy ticket and upgrade with CO miles, nor top up your CO account with Amex Membership Rewards points. I don't think you have enough Amex points to be useful in this case.
** It's getting pretty late to book fall travel to Oz (high season down there). You should call the CO partner desk ASAP.
Yup - can only upgrade on QF using QF miles.
Oct/Nov is not high season and is a good time to visit before the peak season and school/public holidays. That said, Australia/NZ are popular places for using awards, especially in business/first class, so it may be difficult if not impossible to get awards you want. Try mid week flights. Try going via SFO rather than LAX (since SFO flight is fairly new it may have more availability), etc.