Foreign Minister Julie Bishop is stepping up her campaign to have those responsible for the MH17 disaster brought to justice.
"Justice delayed is justice denied," Ms Bishop told AAP in New York, ahead of the United Nations General Assembly, which starts on Monday night Australian time.
On Tuesday she will meet on the sidelines with representatives from Belgium, Malaysia, the Netherlands and Ukraine.
The private meeting of joint investigation leaders will consider the best course to bring the perpetrators to justice.
Thirty-eight Australians were among the 298 passengers and crew who died when Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 was shot down over eastern Ukraine in July 2014.
Ms Bishop did not raise the issue when she spoke briefly with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in New York on Sunday.
"Once we have adopted a position it's time to go back and talk to Russia," she said.
"We believe the best choice is a UN Security Council-backed independent criminal tribunal."
Russia vetoed the previous resolution to set up an independent tribunal, arguing countries should at least wait until all reports into the disaster are completed.
The proposed tribunal would be similar to the one established to prosecute Libyan suspects over the 1988 bombing of a Pan Am flight over Scotland.
Ms Bishop said she would not rule out another UNSC resolution next year after the final police investigation report is released.
She said the families of the victims were being kept informed.
"Clearly they want the perpetrators held to account as do we, but we are moving as quickly as we can within the constraints of the international options available to us."
A report by the Dutch-led investigation team, set to be published on 13 October, is understood to include evidence that flight MH17 was brought down by a Russian-made Buk missile fired from separatist territory in eastern Ukraine.
Russia has denied any involvement.
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