Labor frontbencher Penny Wong says the party has clear principles to guide its asylum-seeker policy despite disagreement over the detail.
The party's Left faction met in Sydney over the weekend to discuss immigration and other policy positions before the national conference in Melbourne later this month.
However, the Left did not settle on a final position on asylum seekers to take to the conference.
There is a dispute between those who want to end mandatory detention and offshore processing and others who say these are necessary to prevent deaths at sea.
Senator Wong, a prominent member of the faction, said the party was clear on the principles it would uphold in regard to people seeking to arrive by boat.
"We are committed to ensuring no more lives are lost at sea," she told ABC radio on Monday.
"We are also committed to ensuring that this nation adheres to our international legal obligations and that the human rights of asylum seekers are respected."
Some Right faction members, such as frontbencher Joel Fitzgibbon, want to go further and support boat turnbacks.
But Opposition Leader Bill Shorten wants more detailed information from the government on how the policy is working before making any decision.
Prominent ALP member and Lismore mayor Jenny Dowell wrote on Twitter she was "ashamed" the party would even consider supporting turnbacks.
The party's draft policy platform says Labor will keep offshore processing and mandatory detention, but abolish temporary protection visas.
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