Aust wins support for whaling scrutiny

Australia has won international support to put greater pressure on Japan to end its so-called scientific whaling programs.

The International Whaling Commission has agreed to Environment Minister Josh Frydenberg's resolution to engage directly and more robustly with discussions around scientific whaling, instead of delegating reviews to a separate committee.

The commission's meeting in Slovenia also agreed to a second Australian resolution, co-sponsored by several other countries, calling for an independent review to improve its transparency and accountability.

Australia will give the commission $200,000 to run this review.

Mr Frydenberg said passing the two resolutions was a notable achievement for Australia.

"They help the commission continue to evolve in response to changing times and pressures, and to take another step away from whaling towards global cetacean conservation," he said.

"The message is clear, you don't need to kill whales to study them."