Australia will take strong action to uphold the ban on commercial whaling, says Foreign Minister Julie Bishop.
Last week, Japanese ships returned home from an expedition in the Antarctic region on which more than 300 whales, including 200 pregnant females, were slaughtered.
Its actions are in defiance of international criticism and despite a 2014 UN legal decision that ruled so-called scientific whaling activity in the Southern Ocean was a front for commercial hunts.
Ms Bishop said the government would continue to advocate for Japan to comply with its international obligations and the principles set out in the International Court of Justice judgment.
"The government is considering all avenues to achieve compliance with the court's decision and the whaling convention," the minister said in a statement on Tuesday.
"We will continue our efforts in the International Whaling Commission to strongly oppose commercial whaling and so-called scientific whaling, uphold the moratorium on commercial whaling, and to promote whale conservation."
Four survey ships from Japan's Institute of Cetacean Research were in the Antarctic region over a period of 115 days from December 1 last year.
The institute's report last Thursday confirmed 333 minke whales were captured.
The 2014/15 summer was the first time in 70 years Japan had stopped its whaling program.
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