Paine stepped down as Australia skipper in November - just 19 days before the Ashes series started - after he was embroiled in a sexting scandal.
The 37-year-old took a break from the game "for the foreseeable future" and has kept a low profile since his reign as captain of his country came to an end.
Paine has showed no signs of getting back in the middle, but the wicketkeeper has been passing on his experience with the Tasmanian Tigers.
Tasmania interim head coach Ali de Winter told reporters on Tuesday: "It's been a nice little distraction for him, I guess, to spend some time with us.
"He's been great with our young players stepping in [but] where he stands with his playing of cricket, I don't think he's really thought that far ahead.
"He's still doing his own physical training; he's not doing any batting or wicketkeeping at the moment, but he's certainly present around the group.
"I think he's just enjoying the re-entry into our group and just focusing on family life."
Australia thrashed England 4-0 to retain the Ashes after Pat Cummins replaced Paine as captain.
The 37-year-old wicketkeeper will feature for Tasmania against Queensland in the Sheffield Shield on Thursday, despite missing out on a state contract for the season.
Paine stepped away from playing duties when details came to light of a historic investigation into a 2017 text message exchange between Paine and a female employee at Cricket Tasmania.
It meant he missed out on leading Australia into the 2021-22 Ashes series, resigning just weeks before the battle with England began. Paine's last first-class match saw him represent Tasmania against Western Australia in April 2021.
Ahead of his return at Allan Border Field in Brisbane, Paine said: "I'm pretty fresh, that's for sure."
Quoted by ABC, he added: "I've obviously been training for five, six weeks. I'm ready to go, excited, obviously a bit nervous, but looking forward to it."
Paine was backed by Tasmania coach Jeff Vaughan, who said team selectors were "quite unanimous" he should be welcomed back, describing him as "one of the world's best wicketkeepers".
"We have absolute faith and trust in Tim and his preparation," Vaughan said, quoted on cricket.com.au. "Physically he is probably in the greatest spot of his physical career, emotionally he is sound."
The return of Paine has also been backed in the Australia ranks, with T20 captain Aaron Finch saying: "I think Australian cricket is better for having Tim involved in a playing capacity."
Reports in Australia on Tuesday claimed Paine is set to give his side of the sexting story in a new book.
The 37-year-old wicketkeeper was playing in his first such match for 20 months, resuming a playing career that ground to a halt following a sexting scandal.
Paine stepped away from playing duties when details came to light of a historic investigation into a 2017 text message exchange between Paine and a female employee at Cricket Tasmania.
It meant he missed out on leading Australia into the 2021-22 Ashes series, resigning just weeks before the battle with England began. Paine's last first-class match had seen him represent Tasmania against Western Australia in April 2021.
A cheap dismissal on his comeback, caught by Matt Renshaw off paceman Gurinder Sandhu's bowling, saw Tasmania slip to 74-6 in their first innings, before recovering slightly to post 147 all out.
Paine took a catch in Queensland's reply, holding on to remove Renshaw and give Riley Meredith a wicket, as the home team at Allan Border Field reached 70-1 at stumps.
