PM Abbott tells Aussie troops their Iraq campaign is ongoing

Prime Minister Tony Abbott says the fight against Islamic state is far from over amid speculation Australia's commitment in Iraq may be expanded.

Mr Abbott held a personal training session with Defence Force personnel stationed in the Middle East on Tuesday.

It was the latest leg of an unannounced visit to the troubled region which included talks with the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi in Dubai and a visit to an airbase.

The prime minister thanked troops for their work - but flagged there was no imminent closure to their campaign.

"Obviously, it is going to continue for quite some time," he said.

"Because the last thing any of us would want is to see the ISIL, or Daesh death cult, continue to embed itself in Eastern Syria and Northern Iraq."

Australia is part of the US-led coalition carrying out air strikes against ISIL in Iraq and has deployed special forces troops to assist in training the local army.

Mr Abbott has not ruled out greater military involvement when he pledged Australia would do what it "can usefully do" in the coalition effort.

He said he looked forward to further talks with Baghdad and coalition partners about "reasonable" help.

"This is an ongoing struggle, it is a struggle for our interests, for our values," Mr Abbott told troops.

Back home, Foreign Minister Julie Bishop was hosing down speculation, saying a request must first come from the Iraqi government before Australia would consider greater involvement.

"At this point I'm not aware of any other request for further personnel," she told reporters in Perth.

The Labor opposition is holding back bipartisan support for any expanded role.

Instead, it will wait for a detailed briefing from the government before revealing its position.

Acting opposition leader Tony Burke said it would be "astounding" if the government pledged more troops without discussions with Labor.