Foreign Affairs Minister Alexander Downer confirmed in Parliament that they were detained over terrorism-linked charges, including attempting to smuggle arms to Somalia.
He said two of three people arrested in Yemen on terrorist charges are Australian-born.
A third is an Australian citizen born in Poland.
Foreign Affairs also says they're all men from New South Wales.
The department says it's been pushing for access to the Australians since they were detained in Yemen last Tuesday but have been held up by the Eid holiday period in the country.
A foreign affairs department spokesman in Canberra confirmed reports from Yemen that Australian passport-holders were among eight foreigners arrested in Yemen.
A senior Yemeni Interior Ministry official said yesterday that Yemeni forces had arrested eight foreigners for allegedly smuggling weapons to Somalia from Yemen.
"The eight foreigners were arrested because they smuggled weapons to Somalia from Yemen," the Yemeni Interior Ministry official said in a statement posted on the state-run news agency Saba.
"Preliminary investigations indicate that they are members of al-Qaeda."
Government sources in the Yemeni capital told Reuters that all eight had converted to Islam earlier this year and received religious instruction in Yemen.
Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade spokesman Scott Bolitho said in Canberra that the department had been advised of arrests by Yemeni authorities and have been seeking access to the men since Tuesday.
"With assistance from the British Commission in Yemen, consular officials from our embassy in Riyadh are seeking access to those detained."
Mr Bolitho said DFAT was aware of reports that the arrested Australians face terrorist charges, including smuggling weapons to Somalia.
Last month, Yemen said it had broken up an al-Qaeda linked cell that was behind foiled attacks on oil and gas installations.