European foreign ministers have sought Australia's advice in dealing with their asylum seeker crisis following 800 drowning deaths in the past week.
Foreign Minister Julie Bishop says the ministers have raised the matter with her during her visit to Europe and it was discussed during the North Atlantic Council meeting on Friday.
However, Australia could only explain its own experiences and it was up to individual governments and regions to decide what they believed would work, Ms Bishop said from Brussels.
These were were difficult issues and whatever was done would require significant political will, she said.
"I make the point, there is nothing humanitarian, there is nothing merciful about criminal networks luring people to their deaths by putting them on unseaworthy boats and forcing them to undertake dangerous journeys at sea," Ms Bishop told reporters.
She said Australia was a nation built on migration which welcomed people from every corner of the globe.
But those seeking to come to Australia must do so in accordance with Australian law.
Under the coalition government's hardline policy, those who pay people smugglers will not have claims for asylum processed in Australia. Should they be determined to be refugees, they still won't be resettled in Australia.
Ms Bishop said the statistics spoke for themselves.
In 2013, 300 people smuggler boats sought to make their way to Australia carrying 20,000 people, with about 1200 deaths at sea.
Since 2014, no boats have reached Australia with no deaths at sea.
Growing numbers of people fleeing poverty in Africa and conflicts in the Middle east have sought to travel from North Africa to Italy aboard overcrowded boats.
