Bishop to raise Nauru concerns with leader

Foreign Minister Julie Bishop will speak with Nauru President Baron Waqa for a second time about Australia's concerns over the deteriorating situation in the tiny Pacific country.

Other leaders and ministers at the Pacific Islands Forum foreign ministers meeting in Sydney this week have also raised concerns with the president, including New Zealand's Murray McCully, whose country funds Nauru's legal system.

Ms Bishop will seek an update on the prosecution of Nauru opposition MPs and emphasise to Mr Waqa the importance of sticking to the rule of law and having a properly operating justice system, she told ABC radio on Friday.

Refugee Action Coalition spokesman Ian Rintoul said Australia needed to follow New Zealand's lead and be more publicly vocal about the situation in Nauru.

It was insufficient for Ms Bishop to have a private conversation with President Waqa, he told reporters in Sydney on Friday.

"You've got a bunch of dictators on Nauru at the moment who are really out of control," he said.

Draconian laws introduced to stamp out refugee protests were now being used against opposition MPs, Mr Rintoul said.