you WON'T get a refund!Don't ask!THAT is one way of helping insure they will try and charge the one way fare.
I've only done this on rare occasions on domestic flights w/ no problem. I don't know how it works w/ international flights - if you call and cancel the LAX-SYD leg it may be a bigger deal than cancelling a domestic flight.

Personally, if I was moving home I'd bite the bullet and pay the one way fare. If you moving here but are Australian, I'd get the R/T but book the R/T far enough out that if you want to go back you can.

The term is "throw-away ticketing," and yes, it's against the rules (and the "contract of carriage") that you agree to when buying the ticket.

That said, it happens all the time, and unless you're a serial offender, the chances of them coming after you for the big bucks is very low.

However, a couple of things. If you're going to do this, why not book the ticket as a round trip from SYD to DTW instead of LAX? I can't imagine that the extra cost is terribly high, and since Delta doesn't offer one-way awards, you'd have to spend as many miles as for a round trip. Even though they're called "Skypesos" by many (and I'm personally of the opinion it's a lousy FF program) they're worth something so why throw them at a flight that would otherwise be relatively inexpensive if included in the Australia - USA legs.

The other thing about "throw away ticketing" is that you never phone up and cancel the return. Doing so will almost certainly subject you to a demand for the price difference.

Instead, just no-show. If in the (1%) chance somebody contacts you, your mother was sick, your car broke down, the dog ate your reservation... whatever.

Thanks so much for the prompt and helpful replies!

I have looked into the Syd - DTW RT and it's about $400 higher than the Syd-LAX RT fare. My rationale for booking a one way fare using awards points was that we have a bunch of points that have been difficult to use in any other helpful way. Much more so than when we were members of NWA World Perks. I agree Gardyloo....lousy program!

I guess the first decision is whether we actually make the move or not....

Thanks again...now armed with good advice, I have a better idea of what we can and should be able to do.