Australians helping rescue the young soccer team trapped in a Thai cave will be officially thanked once their extraordinary work is over.
Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said their priorities were rescuing the four boys and their coach still stuck deep underground in northern Thailand.
"I am very proud that the Australian team have been able to play such an important and critical role in the rescue," she told reporters in Canberra on Tuesday.
"Dr (Richard) Harris, for a start, has been intimately involved in the health assessment of the boys.
"Our Australian Federal Police divers have been part of the daisy chain of rescuers. The Navy clearance divers have also been involved and we have crisis response teams on the ground."
Ms Bishop said she has not made direct contact with the rescuers yet
"Their priorities are on the rescue," she said.
"At some appropriate time I will most certainly make contact with our team and thank them for the extraordinary work that they have put in."
Eight boys have been rescued from the cave so far, after Dr Harris went into the cave complex to medically assess which boys could be taken out in individual and dangerous dives.
