Australia will continue to oppose all forms of commercial and so-called 'scientific' whaling, despite fresh efforts by Japan to resume its program.
The Japan Fisheries Agency wants a meeting of the International Whaling Commission in September to allow the capture of some "abundant" whale species.
Environment Minister Josh Frydenberg says the global ban should continue and Australia would work through the IWC to bring about a permanent end.
"Australia's position on whaling remains clear - we will strongly oppose any proposals that seek to overturn the moratorium or weaken the rules for making decisions on commercial whaling," Mr Frydenberg said.
Australia has provided funding to support the IWC's Southern Ocean Research Partnership, to show whales do not need to be killed in order to study them.
The government also backed the International Court of Justice's 2014 finding that Japan's Southern Ocean whaling program was not for purposes of scientific research.
And efforts are underway to ensure Japan's whaling programs in the North Pacific and the Southern Ocean are subjected to greater scrutiny.
