Rice will put a tumultuous year behind her when she returns to the pool at the national titles in Sydney, which double as trials for July's world championships in Shanghai.
The competition represents the 22-year-old's first major meet since shoulder surgery last year which saw her miss the Commonwealth Games.
But Rice is viewing the competition as a "fresh start" and comes into the meet with a solid preparation under her belt.
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"I haven't felt this confident about my training and everything for a while now," Rice said on Thursday.
"I'm really excited, I haven't raced quite competitively and seriously for about a year now so I'm really looking forward to the challenge and going through the motions of racing and being under pressure and nerves."
Rice's program starts on Friday morning with the heats of the 100m butterfly and 200m individual medley.
