Scott Morrison will follow in Donald Trump's footsteps by refusing to sign a global covenant on migration.
The prime minister says the UN's Global Compact on Migration would compromise Australia's border security and undermine its immigration settings.
"It doesn't distinguish between those who illegally enter Australia and those who come the right way," he told 2GB radio on Wednesday.
"I would never allow something to compromise our borders, I worked too hard to ensure that we weren't in that position."
The agreement is supposed to support safe and orderly migration.
But Mr Morrison said a key sticking point was the failure of the document to differentiate between illegal and "proper" migration when it comes to providing welfare benefits.
The US, Israel, Austria, the Czech Republic, Poland, Croatia, Hungary and Bulgaria have refused to sign the agreement.
The Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration was finalised in July and is to be formally approved at a December meeting in Marrakesh, Morocco, before being passed by a resolution in the UN General Assembly in January. It is not legally binding.
