Australia has been formally asked by the Malaysian Government to take the lead role examining debris and human remains if the wreckage of missing airliner MH370 is found in the next few weeks.

"We are already talking to them, the discussion is ongoing," confirmed Azharuddin Abdul Rahman, leader of the MH370 Response Team.

In 2014, Malaysia signed a memorandum of understanding to have the Australian Transport Safety Bureau lead the investigation, and the Australian Federal Police carry out the disaster victim identification work.

That agreement has since lapsed, but Malaysia wants to reactivate the deal.

List of items to be found

PM has also obtained a briefing copy of the official investigation team's wreckage recovery plan.

It sets out the priority list of items wanted by investigators and forecasts a three-month operation based in Perth.

The flight data and cockpit voice recorders top the list.

Then comes the cockpit, cargo compartment, and components of the avionics and satellite equipment from the bay beneath the cockpit.

The ABC has been told that should the two black boxes not be found, investigators would still be able to piece together some or all of the story of the last hours of MH370 from the different parts of the aircraft that feed data into those boxes.

The investigators want the cockpit door recovered to see if it was locked or unlocked.

And they want vital flight control devices as well as personal electronic devices from the people onboard.

That includes mobile phones, laptops, cameras, iPads and watches.

Families want remains recovered

MH370 disappeared four years ago while flying from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. ( Reuters: Kim Kyung-Hoon )

Perhaps the most sensitive item on the priority list is the human remains.

The ABC understands that the expert opinion of a number of people close to the investigation is remains are likely to have been well preserved in water temperatures of about 2 degrees at the bottom of the ocean.

Malaysia is now caucusing the views of next of kin on the question of whether they want remains recovered.

KS Narendran's wife, Chandrika, was on MH370.

"I know for a fact that a number of next of kin want remains recovered, it's very important to them," he said.

Recommendations but no conclusions

If the plane is not found by the end of the 90 days, Ocean Infinity will depart the Southern Indian Ocean empty-handed of the prize money for finding the wreck.

Within a matter of days, the final report by the international Safety Investigation Team will be released.

The ABC understands that though the report remains inconclusive about the cause of this disaster, it offers safety recommendations based on all probable scenarios, and that includes pilot hijacking and illicit cargo.