Australia has "significantly under-invested" in its relationship with Germany and needs to do more to boost ties, a new report says.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull will visit Berlin this week, to meet with Chancellor Angela Merkel, ahead of the G20 summit in Turkey.
The leaders will receive the recommendations of the Australia-Germany Advisory Group, which is co-chaired by Finance Minister Mathias Cormann and German minister of state Professor Maria Bohmer.
The prime minister's wife Lucy Turnbull, who will accompany Mr Turnbull on part of the trip, is also a member of the group.
AAP understands the report says the bilateral relationship has been "significantly under-invested" and there were substantial benefits from better links.
It's expected the governments will respond with a plan for more regular ministerial dialogue.
The report also seeks closer work on counter-terrorism, cyber security, refugees, energy security and defence industry engagement.
Peter Jennings, from the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, told AAP there was much to gain from stepping up the relationship with Germany.
"This will give us a better entry point to the EU and increasingly there are important strategic issues we should be talking to each other about," Mr Jennings said.
Mr Jennings, who is also a member of the advisory group, said Australia's foreign policy should be based on "global interests" rather than an Asian Century mindset.
Germany is one of three countries bidding to build Australia's next fleet of submarines and has expressed interest in other Navy contracts.
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