Attorney General Christian Porter has shot down a bid by Australian lawyers to prosecute Aung San Suu Kyi on crimes against humanity.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull is hosting Myanmar's de facto leader in Sydney along with leaders from other Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) member countries for a special summit.
An estimated 700,000 Rohingya people from Myanmar's troubled Rakhine state have poured across the border into Bangladesh refugee camps since last August following a military crackdown.
The atrocities included villages being burned, women being raped and babies murdered.
The Rohingya people are effectively stateless and are denied citizenship in Myanmar.
Ron Merkel QC and a group of international and human rights lawyers needed Mr Porter to give permission for private prosecution but that won't be forthcoming.
"Aung San Suu Kyi has complete immunity, including from being served with court documents because under customary international law, heads of state, heads of government and ministers of foreign affairs are immune from foreign criminal proceedings and are inviolable," a spokesman for Mr Porter told AAP.
Myanmar's State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi and Attorney-General Christian Porter Source: AAP
"They cannot be arrested, detained or be served with court proceedings."
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The legal team lodged an application in the Victorian Magistrates Court on Friday and were seeking to prosecute her using universal jurisdiction provisions in Australia's federal criminal code.
They alleged Ms Suu Kyi has failed to use her position of authority and power to prevent Myanmar security forces from deporting and forcibly removing Rohingyas from their homes.
Mr Turnbull is due to sit down with Ms Suu Kyi for bilateral talks on Monday.
He's vowed to raise the situation in Rakhine state but did not use the term Rohingya during a press statement on Friday.
Mr Turnbull dismissed a journalist's description of human rights abuses as "sweeping generalisations".
