The officials have been trying to make contact with the three men since their arrest over terrorism charges more than two weeks ago.
They had been due to see the men yesterday afternoon but now hope to see them some time today.
Foreign Minister Alexander Downer explained today that the
Australian officers were turned away for lack of a letter.
"The Australian officials had their diplomatic passports but didn't have a letter from the ambassador in Riyadh, and the Yemeni authorities wanted there to be a letter," he said.
The three are among a group of eight foreigners with suspected links to al-Qaeda who are facing terrorism charges in Yemen over an alleged plot to smuggle arms to Somalia.
JI link
Two of the men are brothers, reportedly the sons of Abdul Rahim
Ayub, who set up a Jemaah Islamiah (JI) cell in Australia and fled after the Bali bombing.
Fairfax newspapers reported that their mother, Australian-born
Rabiah Hutchinson, who grew up in the NSW town of Mudgee, is possibly more radical than the father.
The couple met in Indonesia after Ms Hutchinson became a strict Muslim. They wed in 1984.
Her husband's twin brother, Abdul Rahman Ayub, reportedly fought alongside Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan.
Ms Hutchinson is in Yemen with her sons, Mohammed Ayub and Abdullah Ayub, Fairfax reports.
A third Australian, with Polish heritage, was arrested in Yemen with the brothers and News Limited papers are reporting that a fourth Australian may have been arrested over the plot.
They are part of a group, which has been under scrutiny from spy agency ASIO for several years. The group is insisting that they went to Yemen to further their religious instruction.
Mr Downer would not comment on any connection between the men and Ayub.
Their lawyer, Adam Houda, yesterday said that any link to Ayub was "innocent".
Mr Downer says he hopes Australian officials will be able to contact the men some time today.
"The thing is, we need to be able to talk to them and also to the Yemeni authorities because, in terms of the particular charges that have been brought against them or the reason for their arrests, we don't have much information on that at all," he said.
"We want to see them to make sure that they're being looked after appropriately and that they have access to some sort of legal representation."
Mr Downer said British officials had confirmed the trio had been arrested on terrorism-related offences.
He said Australia had no knowledge of the group before they were arrested and had had no involvement in the operation.
"Australia has not been involved," he said.