NOT for the first time this year, the Wallabies broke Welsh hearts in the dying minutes of a breathless contest.
Trailing 12-9 with less than a minute on the clock, Australia delivered a killer blow with a last-ditch try in the corner from fly-half Kurtley Beale.
It would have felt like a nightmarish deja vu for Wales after their narrow misses Down Under in the summer and cruel for a patched-up side who had given everything to salvage a victory from a miserable autumn.
But the harsh reality is that Warren Gatland's men will go into Monday's World Cup draw among the third tier of nations and facing up to a potential pool of death when the tournament returns to these shores in 2015.
Wales had produced by far their best performance of the series with their back-play far more inventive and incisive than in previous weeks.
They defended with vigour and had a decent scrum, but their line-out spluttered badly throughout.
Full-back Leigh Halfpenny was outstanding at full-back, while Jamie Roberts and Sam Warburton led a determined Welsh defence.
But, in one final sweeping move, Australia claimed the spoils and Wales were left to reflect on an autumn whitewash.
After losing two players inside the opening two minutes last weekend, Wales's injury curse seemed to have stuck again when second row Luke Charteris was led from the field with three minutes and 45 seconds on the clock after getting a challenge on Scott Higginbotham horribly wrong and catching his head on the flanker's shoulder.
However, Charteris dusted himself down and returned to the fray a couple of minutes later, during which time fly-half Beale had missed a penalty attempt from 40 metres.
Wales were firmly on the defensive early on with the penalty count reading 28 by Wales to three by Australia after just 12 minutes.
Centre Adam Ashley-Cooper sliced through the attempted tackles of Roberts and Rhys Priestland to carve open the game's first try-scoring opportunity, but his pass to Drew Mitchell was ruled forward with the Welsh cover stretched.
The warning shot had been fired, however.
Priestland and Roberts made amends moments later by holding up Mitchell yards out, then Wales launched a stirring counter from their own line with Alex Cuthbert scorching clear.
However, faced with the last defender, Cuthbert opted to try and take on full-back Berrick Barnes on the outside and was marshalled into touch.
Beale did give his side the lead on 16 minutes when he landed a penalty from inside his own half after Matthew Rees had been penalised for going off his feet at a ruck, only for Halfpenny to respond from similar range with a brilliant strike a minute later.
With Wales hauling themselves back into the contest, Halfpenny gave his side the lead with a second sweet strike
The Blues full-back hadn't sampled victory since the Grand Slam win over France in March, but appeared on a one-man crusade to end that barren run, when he cut open the Aussie defence from deep.
Halfpenny chipped over the final defender and then hacked through to the line, but Aussie No. 8 Wycliff Palu managed to track back to minor the ball and deny opposite number Toby Faletau the touch down
The Welsh three-quarter line, with Priestland pulling the strings impressively, was looking increasingly sharp, unrecognisable from the previous three matches of the autumn series.
Beale missed with a chance to put the Wallabies back in front, but Wales continued to create.
The problem was they were being heavily penalised at the breakdown with a number of promises attacks halted by the men in gold getting their hands on the ball.
Another infringement, which prompted a general warning from referee Wayne Barnes, saw Beale nudge Australia 9-6 in front, then Halfpenny missed a penalty from straight in front on the stroke of half-time.
Ryan Jones replaced Charteris as the second half picked up the same high tempo of the first.
It was breathless stuff – from both sides.
A strong scrum from Wales won them a penalty on 54 minutes and this time Halfpenny made no mistake to level up matters again.
With the Aussies starting to fall foul of Mr Barnes, it was Wales who went ahead when Halfpenny slotted over from close range after an inch-perfect kick to the corner from Priestland.
The Wallabies had the chance to level it again, but replacement Mike Harris – the man who landed the match-winning kick in the second Test in Melbourne over the summer – slipped in the process of kicking a penalty and pulled his penalty wide.
It was nerve-wracking stuff, played out in front of a crackling atmosphere.
A turnover by replacement Justin Tipuric four minutes from time raised the decibel levels as much as any try, then Priestland nailed a penalty deep into Aussie territory.
But with the last play of the match, the Millennium Stadium fell silent as a cut-out pass from Barnes opened up Wales and an inside ball from Dave Dennis put Beale haring into the corner.
Halfpenny was stretched off as a result of his tackle on Dennis and it was left to veteran lock Nathan Sharpe – playing his final Test – to attempt the conversion before picking up the James Bevan Trophy, his final act of an illustrious career.
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