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The first day of the prime minister's trip across Southeast Asia has been marked by a flurry of meetings, commitments and a new diplomat to strengthen relations.

Mr Albanese is in Phnom Penh attending the East Asia and ASEAN-Australia summits.

A number of sideline meetings has resulted in Australia reaffirming its relationship with Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos, Japan and Ukraine.

But work continues behind the scenes on seeking a bilateral meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, who has not had a formal meeting with an Australian leader since Malcolm Turnbull in 2016.

"There are no preconditions for a meeting, I look forward to having a constructive dialogue if a meeting takes place," he told reporters on Saturday.

Mr Albanese reaffirmed Australia's relationship with Southeast Asia by announcing Nicholas Moore as special envoy.

The diplomatic position was a Labor election commitment and Mr Moore will lead the Southeast Asia Economic Strategy to 2040.

Mr Albanese said the former Macquarie Group head would bring respect and experience to the role.

"It's part of my government's determination to reach out to the leaders in the business community to ensure that we have ... the private sector as well as government doing what we can to promote Australia's national interests," he said.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine and China's trade and security muscle-flexing are key issues for the prime minister as he embarks on a nine-day overseas trip.

Peace, stability and security in the Indo-Pacific are also front of mind as meets with his fellow world leaders.

Mr Albanese said more communication between nations was key to solving global challenges.

"Dialogue between people is always positive," he said.

"Out of dialogue comes understanding and we need more, not less, in today's uncertain world."

Communication will be put to the test at a dinner for world leaders hosted by the King of Cambodia Norodom Sihamoni and Prime Minister Hun Sen.

United States President Joe Biden, Indonesian President Joko Widodo, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov are among those expected to attend.

Earlier, Mr Albanese reaffirmed support for Ukraine against Russia's invasion, promising and extra 30 armoured vehicles to the nation.

"Bushmasters became the most popular Australian brand in Ukraine," Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba told the prime minister.

Mr Albanese promised to consider a request from Ukraine for assistance with energy infrastructure.

"The ongoing targeting of civilians by Vladimir Putin's forces is reprehensible and against international law," Mr Albanese said

"I express on behalf of the Australian people our condolences for the loss of life that the Ukrainian people are enduring."

Mr Albanese had meetings on the sidelines of the summit with other leaders including Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.

"This is a chance for us to build relationships in our region so early in the term of the new government," he said.

Food security, cybersecurity, climate change and "strategic competition in the region" have been flagged as important topics for discussion.

Mr Albanese will head to Bali on Monday for the G20 summit before attending the APEC meeting in Bangkok.

While Russian President Vladimir Putin will not attend, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy is expected to take part virtually.

Mr Albanese would not confirm whether Australia would join with other nations in isolating Mr Lavrov at the meetings.

"We will engage constructively in the G20 but I certainly won't be seeking out any meetings with the Russian foreign minister," he said.

US President Joe Biden is expected to meet the Chinese president on Monday in Bali.

© AAP 2022

Bushmasters have become the most popular Australian brand in Ukraine as Prime Minister Anthony Albanese commits an additional 30 vehicles to the fight against Russia's invasion.

But Ukraine foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba has flagged support with energy infrastructure will be crucial to help his nation through the coming winter months.

Mr Albanese met with Mr Kuleba in Pnomh Penh on the sidelines of the East Asia summit.

The prime minister said after discussions with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Australia would commit a further 30 bushmasters, taking the total to 90.

"We're very proud that this is making a substantial difference to the defence of your people ... be assured of Australia's ongoing support and our admiration for your struggle," Mr Albanese said.

Australia has also sent 70 Australian Defence Force personnel to the United Kingdom to provide training assistance to Ukrainian soldiers.

Mr Kuleba told the prime minister the armoured vehicles have become a symbol of Australia's political and economic support to his nation.

"Bushmasters became the most popular Australian brand in Ukraine," he said.

"Ukraine will always remember this support that the people in Australia extended to us.

"We will definitely prevail and when victory comes, it will be our joint success."

But as Ukraine enters its winter months, Mr Kuleba asked Australia and other nations present at the summit for help with energy needs.

He said radiators in apartments are cold and buildings are experiencing long blackouts because of Russia's attacks on energy infrastructure.

"Transformers, generators, spare parts for the electricity grid. These are very technical things and they are all of humanitarian purpose," he said.

"This is humanitarian aid, they have nothing to do with military aid."

Mr Albanese told Mr Kuleba he would take the request to his government to consider how Australia could support Ukraine further.

Global instability, energy shortages and inflation caused by Russia's invasion of Ukraine are key issues for Mr Albanese as he embarks on his nine-day overseas trip.

© AAP 2022

Cybersecurity Minister Claire O'Neil has vowed to bring the Russian hackers believed to be behind the Medibank data breach to justice.

Ms O'Neil said the government would launch a new cybersecurity policing operation to break networks of hackers stealing private information of Australian citizens.

"You're entitled to keep information about your health ... completely private. That is your right and it's been stolen from you by Russian thugs," she told reporters in Melbourne.

"Our message today is that those thugs should watch out. We're going to hack the hackers."

She said the operation would collect intelligence and identify the ring-leaders, networks and infrastructure to disrupt and stop their operations "regardless of where they are in the world".

Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus said the 100-office-strong, joint-standing cybercrime operation targeting the hackers would be led by the Australian Federal Police and the Australian Signals Directorate in a permanent and formalised arrangement.

"The AFP is working day and night on this problem. It's working with international partner agencies ... including the FBI," he said.

Mr Dreyfus said "all options remain on the table" when asked about any possible moves to expel Russian diplomats but quickly emphasised the government's preference is "to maintain diplomatic channels".

He maintained that would not slow down the work of national security agencies.

Mr Dreyfus called on Russia to do "all that it can do to ensure people who are within its borders are not engaging in this kind of criminal activity".

The announcement comes after AFP Commissioner Reece Kershaw confirmed a network of Russian criminals was behind the cyber attack on Australia's largest health insurer Medibank.

Mr Kershaw had a blunt message for the people responsible for the hack.

"We know who you are," he said.

"The AFP has some significant runs on the scoreboard when it comes to bringing overseas offenders back to Australia to face the justice system."

Mr Kershaw said the crime had the potential to impact millions of Australians and damage a significant Australian business.

"This cyber attack is an unacceptable attack on Australia and it deserves a response that matches the malicious and far-reaching consequences that this crime is causing," he said.

Mr Kershaw said talks would be held with Russian law enforcement about the individuals involved, who were known but would not be publicly named at this stage.

He emphasised Russia benefited from the intelligence sharing through Interpol "and with that comes responsibilities and accountabilities".

But the Russian Embassy in Canberra protested Mr Kershaw's assertion about the hack's Russian origins.

"For some reason, this announcement was made before the AFP even contacted the Russian side through the existing professional channels of communication," it said in a statement.

"We encourage the AFP to duly get in touch with the respective Russian law enforcement agencies."

Opposition cyber security spokesman James Paterson said the disclosure opened up the possibility of sanctions under Australia's Magnitsky regime.

The regime, passed with bipartisan support in December 2021, enables the imposition of targeted financial sanctions and travel bans in response to serious corruption and significant cyber incidents.

The hackers have since released more sensitive details of customers' medical records on the dark web, including data on abortions and alcohol issues.

It follows Medibank's refusal to pay a ransom for the data, with almost 500,000 health claims stolen, along with personal information.

Medibank has created a one-stop shop of mental health and other support services that can be accessed by affected customers via its website.

© AAP 2022