Foreign Minister Julie Bishop has offered WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange consular assistance and is seeking legal advice about the implications of a UN panel ruling that the UK and Sweden caused him to be arbitrarily detained.
The 44-year-old Australian is likely to remain holed up in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London after both the UK and Swedish governments rejected the ruling.
Ms Bishop met members of Mr Assange's legal team in London on Thursday afternoon.
"I have now read the [UN] report and I am seeking legal advice on its implications for Mr Assange, as an Australian citizen," she told AAP.
"I have confirmed with his lawyers that our offer of consular assistance stands should he require it."
Prominent human rights lawyer Geoffrey Robertson QC said the Australian government must lobby Sweden to allow Mr Assange to walk free.
"The Australian government should remind Sweden of their duty to accept the tribunal's decision, not argue with the umpire," Mr Robertson told Network Seven on Saturday morning.
But Mr Assange may struggle to win support from some Australian politicians.
Cabinet Minister Christopher Pyne and Labor frontbencher Richard Marles described him as "no hero" on their Sky News TV show on Saturday and said he had put peoples' lives at risk, including Australian service personnel.
Barrister Greg Barns, an adviser to Mr Assange, later angrily disputed that claim on Sky News saying there was no evidence that information released by Mr Assange about the Afghanistan and Iraq wars had put lives in jeopardy.
Assange sought asylum in the embassy in June 2012 to avoid extradition to Sweden to face sexual assault allegations.
On Friday he made a rare appearance on an embassy balcony to tell supporters he had won a "sweet victory".
He also said he feared being sent to the US to face an espionage case over WikiLeaks' release of top-secret military and diplomatic documents.
"We have today a really significant victory that has brought a smile to my face and I hope to many others as well," Assange told reporters by video link from the embassy.
The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention released a ruling urging the UK and Swedish governments to allow him to go free without fear of arrest and afford him the right of compensation over his "deprivation of liberty".
But both governments rejected the ruling, saying Assange was in the embassy voluntarily and had to still face justice in Sweden.
Opposition Leader Bill Shorten said it was a matter for the UK and Swedish legal systems.
"I'm not sure Australia has any power to resolve this matter," he told reporters in Sydney.
