Fair trade and consumer groups say a leaked draft chapter of the secretive Trans-Pacific Partnership shows that the Australian Government may be willing to trade off health and environmental protections.

The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) is under negotiation between 12 countries and Wikileaks has released what it says is the draft chapter on investments as it stood in January.

That chapter shows that the Australian Government has asked for a specific exemption for Medicare, the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme, the Therapeutic Goods Administration and the Office of the Gene Technology Regulator from investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) provisions.

These ISDS provisions would allow companies from countries covered by the trade agreement to sue the federal, state and local governments for introducing policies that are detrimental to their business interests.

There is a general provision in the chapter that exempts a country for being liable for measures that it "considers appropriate to ensure that investment activity in its territory is undertaken in a manner sensitive to environmental, health, or other regulatory objectives."

However, Dr Patricia Ranald from fair trade group AFTINET told ABC News Online that Australia's attempt to include specific exemptions shows that it has no faith in this catch-all provision.

"Our Government has previously given assurances that general protections or exemptions for health, environment and public welfare would prevent such suits in the future," she said.

"But the fact that they have named specific institutions, like the PBS and Medicare, as having to be exempted from ISDS reveals that the general protections are not adequate."

The provision that lists specific bodies such as the PBS and Medicare is also enclosed in square brackets, indicating that it has not yet been agreed to by other parties.

However, Australia's agreement to be part of the ISDS section of the investment chapter is itself "subject to certain conditions", although the text does not specify what these conditions are.

Patricia Ranald suspects they may be various trade-offs for export access.

"We know, again from previous statements by the Trade Minister, that those conditions include market access for US agricultural markets," she responded.

"So what we learn from this text is that the Australian Government is using ISDS as a bargaining chip."

Government says public interest will be protected

The ABC contacted Trade Minister Andrew Robb's office to ask for an interview, however the Minister was unavailable due to a heavy schedule of meetings during a visit to Hong Kong.

In a statement, his office said that Australia would not sign an agreement that prevented the Government from acting in the public interest.

"The Minister for Trade and Investment Andrew Robb has repeatedly said the Government will not support outcomes that undermine our ability to regulate or legislate in the public interest in areas such as health," the statement read.

"The release this week of supposed leaked draft chapters is the latest in a series of attempts by anti-trade groups in the community to try and frighten the public."

Consumer group Choice has welcomed Australia's apparent resistance to blanket ISDS provisions, however it would like more transparency about what is being negotiated.

"Although we have only been able to hear about this through unofficial leaks, it is encouraging that the Australian negotiators haven't yet conceded completely over investor state dispute settlement," Choice chief executive Alan Kirkland said in a statement.

"Although Australia seems to be resisting this chapter as drafted, we need to know what the conditions are that would see us sign up to it."

The Government insists that the public will have that opportunity, once the negotiations are finalised.

"The only document that will accurately reflect the negotiations will be the final document," Minister Robb's office responded.

"The text of the agreement will not be kept secret. Once it is agreed between participants, it will be made public and also subjected to parliamentary scrutiny prior to any final ratification."

The Minister's office also said that the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade has held more than 1,000 briefings with interested stakeholders since 2011.

"Anybody who has a genuine interest in understanding the true state of negotiations from Australia's perspective is encouraged to participate in our long-running public consultation process," it added.