In a debate between Australian Labor Party Foreign Affairs Minister Bob Carr and Opposition's spokesperson Julie Bishop on foreign policy, the two were somewhat singing the same tune on managing the expectation of Aussies getting into trouble abroad.

As for Mr Carr, there should be no more anticipation of utmost consular service for those Australians that will get into trouble abroad.

This policy is an answer to the reported 600 Australians who were arrested in 2012 while travelling other countries. Mr Carr said that cases like these had required for the government to exert a great amount of help at the expense of fewer diplomatic services.

"I'm going to announce shortly av... refinement in the level of consular services that Australians are able to seek. We've got too much diplomatic time being taken up looking after Australians, who in many cases should be taking responsibility for their own safety. There are cases where an Australian in trouble has a reasonable expectation that we will insist on them being treated with due process, and we will look after their welfare ... but I think we can lower expectations just a bit," Mr Carr said in his speech.

The policy is also an answer to an on-going criticism against the government for not doing its best to intervene in the cases of Australians abroad like businessman Matthew Joyce in Dubai.

However, Mr Carr was adamant that it is for Australia's welfare that the government is implementing tighter policy to those Aussie erring abroad. As a way of an example, Mr Carr revealed that some Australians, who were airlifted from Egypt during the 2011 conflict, asked if the government flight would make them eligible for the frequent flyer points.

Ms Bishop, on the other hand, agreed that bloated consular help was a problem that can be fixed through setting the expectations of travellers correctly.

"Australians are an adventurous lot but then when they get in trouble they want Qantas to fly them home. We need to manage expectations about what your government can do for you when you are overseas, particularly in cases where you have broken the law in the country."

Although in tune with Mr Carr on this, Ms Bishop said that the Coalition's policy, unlike with Labor's, equate foreign policy with trade policy, including aid commitments.

"Aid for trade is a cornerstone of our foreign policy ... performance benchmarks against which our aid spending will be judged to ensure we have the most efficient and effective use of our aid budget," Ms Bishop said.

"We believe that we should be promoting sustainable economic growth rather than aid handouts for the region."

If elected, the Coalition will commit to reviewing the increasing consular budget, Ms Carr said.

"There's only so much the Australian government can do if you have broken the law according to the laws of that country."