Prime Minister Tony Abbott is confident of reinvigorating Australia's valuable live cattle trade with Indonesia, but warns there's no quick fix in sight.
Mr Abbott confirmed the issue came up during a meeting with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in Jakarta on Monday and the leaders agreed further details would be worked out between their respective ministers.
"There's a bit of work yet to be done," the prime minister said on Tuesday as he prepared to return to Australia.
However, Mr Abbott said there was also "enthusiasm" on both sides to rebuild strength in the trade.
Australian cattle producers have been reeling since a 2011 television current affairs program uncovered cases of animal mistreatment in Indonesian abattoirs, sparking a temporary ban on live exports to the country.
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Although the ban was lifted months later, Indonesia reduced its annual import quota from 660,000 head to 260,000.
Australian Live Export Council boss Alison Penfold on Tuesday welcomed moves to return the trade to full capacity.
"We are very optimistic about the opportunity to put more cattle into Indonesia," she told AAP.
"We have been looking forward to a strengthening in relations, that would bring policy settings that provide positivity and certainty and the necessary animal welfare commitments."
During a state dinner on Monday night, Mr Abbott regretted the former Labor federal government's sudden decision to suspend live exports "in panic over a TV program".
But Independent MP Andrew Wilkie said Indonesian abattoirs remain "barbaric charnel houses" and implored Mr Abbott not to put animal welfare below diplomatic relations.
He said Australia should encourage Indonesia's development of a self-sufficient red meat supply.
Indonesian Trade Minister Gita Wirjawan said his country was investigating ways to meet rising domestic demand for meat against a backdrop of limited agricultural land.
"One of which is, I think, the securing of a business proposition in Australia for the purpose of fulfilling the food security needs in Indonesia," he said.
"It will be good for the two countries because we do have need for more protein in the future and the lack of acreage in Indonesia, I think, points to the direction where we've got to be."
The Indonesian government has signalled an interest in acquiring up to 1.5 million hectares of farming land in Australia, where it is cheaper to breed stock.
But the buy-up could face opposition from Mr Abbott's government, which plans to tighten the scrutiny of sales of agricultural land by the Foreign Investment Review Board.
"This is not designed to lock up our country," Mr Abbott said.
"This is designed to ensure that the Australian people understand that the foreign investment we have, the foreign investment we welcome, really is in our own best interests."
