Mark Schwarzer was rested while Mark Viduka captained the side again, although he only played the first 45 minutes.
The Aussies went in 1-0 to the good at half-time, thanks to an Archie Thompson goal, but were made to work hard for their victory in the second half against ten men.
The second half sprung to life when the Solomon Islands were awarded a penalty, the spot kick was saved by Zeljko Kalac and in the ensuing scramble George Lui of the Solomon Islands made a rash challenge on the keeper, as he attempted to gather the ball. The challenge earned Lui a straight red card.
During the disruption the linesman had raised his flag to indicate that Kalac had moved off his before the kick was taken, so the referee ordered the kick to be re-taken. Henry Fa'arodo duly scored to tie the game up.
It only took the Socceroos ten minutes to regain the lead through Brett Emerton giving the Aussies a 9-1 victory over the two legs.
The Socceroos now play the fifth team in the South American qualifying group, which will be concluded early in October. Uruguay currently hold fifth position, but with two games to play Colombia, Chile and Venezuela still have a chance.