The Turnbull government has expressed disappointment at the United States' decision to pull out of the United Nations Human Rights Council, while agreeing with the Trump administration's concerns about an "anti-Israel bias".

Australia won a seat on the UNHRC last year following a lengthy and expensive campaign - although Australia ended up being elected unopposed after France pulled out of the race.

The Coalition has touted the election as one of its signature victories in international relations.

"Australia is disappointed by the decision of the United States to resign from the United Nations Human Rights Council," foreign minister Julie Bishop wrote in a statement.

"Australia shares many of the concerns held by the US about the UNHRC, particularly its anti-Israel bias, and we have consistently supported efforts to address other matters of contention."

AFP

Ms Bishop said Australia had told its ally it had a "strong preference" for the US to remain on the council.

"I had made this known to senior members of the Trump Administration," she said.

The United States announced it would resign its seat on the UNHRC this week, with the US ambassador to the UN branding the global body a "cesspool of political bias."

"We take this step because our commitment does not allow us to remain a part of a hypocritical and self-serving organisation that makes a mockery of human rights," Nikki Haley said in an announcement alongside Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

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She said the council was "not worthy of its name", but added the US was not retreating from its human rights commitments.

Mr Pompeo said the council has failed to protect the most vulnerable.

"Governments with egregious human rights records sit on the human rights council. We have no doubt that there was once a noble vision for this council. But today we need to be honest," he said.

"The human rights council is a poor defender of human rights. The human rights council has become an exercise in shameless hypocrisy."

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Withdrawal amid Trump criticism

Ms Haley has repeatedly threatened to quit the Geneva-based body, established in 2006 to promote and protect human rights worldwide.

The withdrawal followed strong UN criticism of US President Donald Trump's policy to separate migrant children from their families at the US-Mexico border.

UN rights chief Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein said on Monday "the thought that any state would seek to deter parents by inflicting such abuse on children is unconscionable."

Human Rights Watch criticised the move, warning that Washington's absence at the top UN body would put the onus on other governments to address the world's most serious rights problems.

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"The Trump administration's withdrawal is a sad reflection of its one-dimensional human rights policy: defending Israeli abuses from criticism takes precedence above all else," said HRW's executive director Kenneth Roth.

"The UN Human Rights Council has played an important role in such countries as North Korea, Syria, Myanmar and South Sudan, but all Trump seems to care about is defending Israel."

Why US has quit UN rights council

US criticism of the council stems from the fact that Israel is the only country that has a dedicated agenda item, known as Item 7, at the rights council, meaning its treatment of the Palestinians comes under scrutiny at each of the body's three annual sessions.

The US refused to join the body when it was created in 2006 when George W. Bush was in the White House and his ambassador to the UN was John Bolton, Trump's current hawkish and UN-skeptic national security advisor.

It was only after Barack Obama came to power that Washington joined the council in 2009.

Since Trump took office, the United States has quit the UN cultural agency UNESCO, cut UN funding and announced plans to quit the UN-backed Paris climate agreement.

- With AFP.