Australia's sterling diplomatic track record speaks for itself, Prime Minister Julia Gillard said on Monday as she embarks on a spirited campaign for the country to secure a non-permanent seat at the United Nations Security Council.

Winning that seat is a personal task, said Ms Gillard, who flew in to New York Sunday to team up with Foreign Minister Bob Carr in ramping up Australia's chances.

"I am here to personally advocate for Australia to be elected to the UN Security Council," ABC reported the prime minister as saying on Monday morning.

"Australia with its proud track record of work within the United Nations has put itself forward for election for the Security Council and I will be personally advocating for that," Ms Gillard said.

She will make her case by speaking to numerous leaders' forums, meeting counterparts and addressing the General Assembly on Wednesday.

And what lies ahead for Ms Gillard is definitely not a walk in the park, Mr Carr said, adding that "it's always tough for Australia to win a ballot . . . because Australia's not part of a major bloc."

The Council's election has been set Oct 18, the foreign minister noted, and it is likely that Canberra will have a tough time dealing with the perceived advantages enjoyed by Finland and Luxembourg, both touted as the front runners to join the 15-seat Security Council, five of which permanently occupied by China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States.

The two nations have been working to capture slots on the five seats that are available for at least a decade while Australia formally joined the fight in 2008, Mr Carr said.

But he expressed confidence that the country will rejoin the Council for a new term on 2013-2014 after more than two decades of absence. Australia's last voted with the powerful UN body in 1986, The Australian said on Monday.

"We're a creative little power, we're a good global citizen and we believe we punch above our weight in terms of aid programs and contributions to peace keeping and nation-building around the world," the Australian Associated Press (AAP) reported Mr Carr as saying.

It is a boost for Australia to enter the Council anew, Ms Gillard said, adding that "the UN Security Council is at the core of what the United Nations does."

"So whether it's authorising a peace-keeping mission, whether it's proscribing a terrorist organisation, whether it's dealing with contemporary issues in our world like the threat of nuclear arms in North Korea, the violence in Syria, the nuclear issues in Iran, it is the Security Council that is at the centre of that work," the prime minister was reported by ABC as saying.

She admitted that Australia is in for a close fight with European contenders but insisted too that besides the country's long-time involvement with UN missions, another plus is its geographical location that both Finland and Luxembourg will find hard to match.

"We are in the region of the world that is growing strongly. Global economic weight is shifting to our region of the world . . . We believe Australia is placed to bring a perspective to the UN Security Council that our competitors could not," Ms Gillard stressed.

Canberra has allocated a campaign kitty of $24 million for the quest to win a Council seat, News Ltd said on Monday, which is likely to further enhance the country's active role in the UN.

Australia has been at the forefront of UN missions since its inception following World War II, contributing tens of thousands of personnel during deployments around the world, the media firm added.