Two journalists have arrived in Australia aboard a suspected asylum seeker boat.

The Department of Immigration has confirmed that the two men, one American and one Dutch, were intercepted overnight on a boat carrying 57 asylum seekers and two crew members, and taken to Christmas Island.

The journalists had "valid travel documents" to enter Australia and so were admitted through Customs, the department spokeswoman confirmed.

Unlike the asylum seekers aboard the boat, the journalists had been ''immigration cleared'', the spokeswoman said.