Foreign Minister Julie Bishop has announced Australia will launch a bid to sit on the United Nations Security Council in 2029 and 2030.

Ms Bishop used Australia's influential position as a non-permanent council member - which expired on December 31 last year - to push key issues including the securing of the MH17 crash site and gathering international support to confront Islamic extremism in the Middle East.

But she wasn't always a fan of the idea when it was put forward by the former Labor government.