Julie Bishop says Australia is keeping an open mind on the end-game in Syria, as Russia and the US disagreed on the best way to resolve the civil conflict.
The foreign minister on Monday attended the opening of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, which is focusing on tackling terrorism, solving Syria's internal problems and addressing climate change.
However, US President Barack Obama and Russia's Vladimir Putin - who held what officials described as a "productive" bilateral meeting - gave starkly different takes on the conflict in their speeches to the assembly.
While the Russians see Mr Assad as a bulwark against extremists, Mr Obama sees the Syrian leader as fanning the flames of sectarian conflict.
Mr Obama denounced nations such as Russia and Iran which have given military and intelligence to Syria's Assad regime but said he was prepared to work on a political solution.
Some countries preferred "stability" over upholding human rights and the rule of law.
"We're told that such retrenchment is required to beat back disorder, that it's the only way to stamp out terrorism or prevent foreign meddling," Mr Obama said.
"In accordance with this logic, we should support tyrants like Bashar al-Assad who drops barrel bombs to massacre innocent children, because the alternative is surely worse."
Mr Putin, addressing the UN for the first time in a decade, said a broad "anti-terror coalition" was needed to fight ISIL in the same way an "anti-Hitler" alliance was forged in WWII.
But it needed to include Syria, which he said was the only country "truly fighting Islamic State".
Ms Bishop, who is due to address a leader-level anti-terrorism meeting along with Mr Obama at 12.30am (AEST) on Wednesday, told reporters that both the US and Russian strategies were designed to defeat ISIL.
"I hope that there can be a level of cooperation to ensure there's no conflict in both strategies," she said.
Australia would not rule out "any permutation or particular form of political solution" in Syria.
But Ms Bishop said that did not take away the fact that the Assad regime had "presided over some of the worst human rights abuses" against its own people.
US officials said after the Obama-Putin meeting the two sides fundamentally disagreed with the role the Syrian president should play but both parties want a political resolution and agreed to ensure their two militaries communicate to avoid conflict between them.
Mr Putin also talked down media reports of Russia sharing intelligence with Iran, Iraq and Syria saying this had gone on for years.
Ms Bishop will deliver Australia's "national statement" to the assembly around 11am (AEST) on Wednesday, as well as meet with Pacific leaders and countries involved in the MH17 investigation.
She will speak on climate change and energy policy at an event on the sidelines of the assembly.
