Scientists from Australia have started laying down development works on what could become the world's largest and most capable radio-telescope which would see the federal government injecting at least $19 million just to have the project in reality.

Chris Evans, Science and Research Minister, said the international Square Kilometre Array (SKA) telescope project aims to provide scientists get a glimpse of the farthest stars and planets in the universe.

Mr Evans said a consortium of 20 nations will fund a $2 billion project that will contain 3,000 dishes spanning South Africa, Australia and New Zealand.

"The SKA is an opportunity for Australia to showcase to the world our ability to successfully deliver scientific projects at this scale," he said.

Actual construction will start in 2016, he noted.

"Australia's science institutions and industry have world-class capability in this field and are well-placed to get involved in key elements of the research and development work," he said.

"This funding is about making sure that the Australian science community can team up with industry to compete with other global consortia on bids for pre-construction work packages."

Senator Evans said the government would work with Australian companies that have the expertise to develop system and sub-system designs, verification instruments, implementation plans and documentation for a range of work packages. This process will cover months and will entail involvement in the pre-construction phase and co-ordination with the international SKA Office, based in the UK.

The work packages include low frequency aperture arrays, dishes, site infrastructure and the central signal processor.