The move comes as Australia also flags an intention to revisit the site of the downed Malaysia Airlines MH17 along with Malaysian investigators, raising the prospect of further confrontation with Russian-backed separatist rebels fighting the Ukrainian government.

While Prime Minister Tony Abbott has repeated his statement of a few days ago that there had still been no "specific" request from the Obama administration for direct Australian military participation in an all-out assault on the Islamic State (also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant), military-to-military planning is under way.

In England for a NATO meeting, Foreign Minister Julie Bishop stepped up Canberra's sabre-rattling rhetoric, stating Australia is determined to meet the threat "head-on".

Speaking from Newport, Wales where NATO governments have gathered for biennial talks and to consider the response to the rise of the Islamic State, Ms Bishop, who has been noticeably less hawkish than her Prime Minister through the worsening crisis in Iraq, left little room for doubt as to Australia's ultimate support for involvement.

"We are keen to play our part in ensuring that this heightened terrorist risk to Australia can be tackled head-on," Ms Bishop said.

Her comments represent the most straightforward enunciation yet of the Abbott government's view that the crisis in Syria and Iraq has direct national security implications for Australia, and must therefore be dealt with forthrightly and at its source.

"The US air strikes have had some significant impact but there is more that needs to be done to ensure that ISIL doesn't continue to grow and spread its poison beyond the region," she said.

Speaking alongside Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak in Kuala Lumpur on Saturday, Mr Abbott said the global threat of Islamist extremism, and particularly its most brutal variant, the Islamic State, had been discussed and both men were as one on the need for a co-ordinated response.

Mr Abbott said there was no doubt Islamic State's campaign for a borderless caliphate, presented a threat.

"There's no doubt that the murderous rage of the so-called ISIL movement does pose a threat not just to the people of Iraq but to the region and to the wider world," he said at post-bilateral meeting press conference.

The Australian leader took the opportunity to thank the Malaysian for his recent strong statements describing the Islamic State as against God, against Islam and against humanity.

Asked specifically about Ms Bishop's comments, he said the Islamic State does need to be tackled, but the manner had not been determined yet.

President Barack Obama has been criticised for the length of time he has spent deliberating on the Islamic State expansion, as Americans weigh the risks of another dangerous war in the Middle East against internet images of their citizens being beheaded by Islamic State fanatics.

Making his first official visit to Malaysia as Prime Minister, Mr Abbott praised the country as a model for others with a proud record of tolerance, multiculturalism, and democracy.

The two men discussed both aviation disasters involving Malaysia Airlines MH370 and MH17 and noted that "a new phase of the search" for MH370 in waters hundreds of kilometres off the West Australian coast would begin within a fortnight. He said Australia remained absolutely committed to finding what was left of the plane.

In a strong statement of intent, the two leaders also agreed that the search for human remains at the MH17 crash-site must be resumed immediately, committing jointly to return to Ukraine before the harsh northern European winter sets in.

Australian Federal Police and Dutch co-ordinators were forced off the crash site last month due to the civil war raging there, but Mr Abbott says this was not good enough because there may still be human remains "strewn" across the massive debris field.

However, neither leader appeared overly confident about bringing the perpetrators to justice for what Mr Najib termed on Saturday as an "atrocious crime".