Australia and Wales occupy the top two places in Pool A with 13 points each after Saturday’s game, leaving England trailing in third place on six points with one pool match remaining.
It was Australia’s highest score and biggest margin of victory over England at Twickenham, where they won the first of their two World Cups by beating the English in the 1991 final.
The Wallabies will play Wales at Twickenham for top spot in the pool before England close their tournament against makeweights Uruguay in Manchester next Saturday evening.
England’s head coach Stuart Lancaster apologised to the home fans who had packed Twickenham.
“Sorry we let everyone down. The last five or 10 minutes we came up short. We have young players and I hope everyone stays behind them,” he said.
Flyhalf Bernard Foley scored two tries and kicked 18 points for Australia, who led 17-3 at halftime, with centre Matt Giteau adding a late third try after wing Anthony Watson had charged over for England.
Australia were too fast and mobile for England at the breakdown and their backs pierced gaps in the defence with smart offloads at pace while the home forwards failed to dominate the Wallabies in the scrum.
England flyhalf Owen Farrell kicked eight points but sat out the end of the match in the sin bin.
