Prime Minister Anthony Albanese would like to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping when he attends a number of international summits later this week.
Mr Albanese will head off to a series of summits on Friday in Cambodia, Indonesia and Thailand.
He left the door open to speaking with Mr Xi, who will be at the G20 summit in Bali as well as APEC in Thailand.
"I've made it very clear that dialogue is a good thing and so if a meeting is arranged with Xi then that would be a positive thing," Mr Albanese told reporters in Canberra on Wednesday.
"We are organising a range of meetings but they haven't been finalised and locked in ... we'll make an announcement if and when meetings with various leaders are locked in."
Mr Albanese told parliament one of the issues he intended to raise with other leaders is the abuse of human rights in Iran, especially the clampdown on the rights of women.
"We will continue to speak out, we will continue to vote in the forums in which Australia has a presence, to ensure that the people of Iran ... know that Australia is friends of all those who stand up for their individual rights and in this case, in particular the rights of women."
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton said the coalition would support any action to address the "horrific and unacceptable" treatment of women in Iran, "even if means an economic consequence for our country".
Liberal senator James Paterson said it would be appropriate for the prime minister to meet with President Xi.
But he wouldn't comment on whether Mr Albanese should bring up recent allegations China tried to poach Australian ex-military personnel.
"It's part of normal healthy bilateral relations, even when countries have differences that we meet and we have an opportunity to discuss and exchange views," he said.
The prime minister will attend four global and regional meetings, including the ASEAN-Australia, East Asia, G20 and APEC summits.
He will also address the Business 20 summit, where chief executives, investors and senior executives will meet prior to the G20 leaders' gathering.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Indonesian President Joko Widodo will also address that summit.
"My role at these summits will be one of advocacy for not only Australians, but also for those of our Pacific neighbours who face many of the same pressures that we do," Mr Albanese said.
"At each summit I will emphasise Australia's commitment to the global transition to net zero, and our vision for a stable, peaceful, resilient and prosperous region."
