The White House has confirmed it is looking into reports president Barack Obama's passport details were leaked by an Australian official during last year's G20 Summit, saying it will "take all appropriate steps" to prevent further breaches.

Personal details of several world leaders were accidentally shared by the Australian Immigration Department before the Brisbane summit.

White House press secretary Eric Schultz said the reports were being investigated.

"I have seen those reports. I can't confirm that at this time," he told reporters on Air Force One.

"I can tell you that we're looking into them and we'll take all appropriate steps necessary to ensure the privacy and security of the president's personal information."

Passport numbers, dates of birth and visa details of leaders attending the Brisbane summit were mistakenly emailed by an Immigration Department official to a member of the Asian Cup Local Organising Committee.

Mr Obama, Russian president Vladimir Putin and German chancellor Angela Merkel were among the world leaders at the G20 summit.

An email from the Immigration Department to the privacy commissioner, obtained under Freedom of Information by The Guardian Australia, revealed the breach was reported less than 10 minutes after the email was sent.

The department described it as an "isolated example of human error" and it considered the risks of the breach to be "very low", given personal data such as address or other contact details were not included.

The email to the privacy commissioner said then-immigration minister Scott Morrison was notified but the department did not consider it necessary to notify the leaders involved.

A spokesman for Indonesia's foreign affairs department said the government would seek to clarify details surrounding the leak of information.

Leak 'huge embarrassment' for Government

A department spokesman released a statement saying the "data was immediately deleted by the recipient and was not distributed further".

The spokesman said the breach was referred to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC).

"The department has reviewed and strengthened its email protocols to limit and contain future breaches," the statement said.

Australian Privacy Commissioner Timothy Pilgrim said in a statement: "In accordance with the OAIC's Regulatory Action Policy, the OAIC finalised inquiries noting the steps taken to contain the breach and that the department was putting in place measures to reduce the risks of a similar incident recurring."

Immigration Minister Peter Dutton's office has been approached for comment.

Opposition spokesman for immigration and border protection Richard Marles said the reported leak was a "huge embarrassment for the Abbott Government".

"The Immigration Minister, Peter Dutton, has so far refused to answer questions since this startling breach was reported," he said in a statement.

"Minister Dutton must explain how a mistake of this magnitude was allowed to occur ... and must also guarantee that no other confidential information was leaked to third parties by the Government.

"Concerningly, Minister Dutton must also explain why it appears he, nor anyone in the Government, chose to not notify any of the world leaders involved at the time of the breach."

Greens senator Scott Ludlam used the leak to renew his opposition to the Government's new data retention laws, saying a mandatory data breach notice must be implemented.

"If the information of world leaders can be breached, then what will happen when thousands of people from a range of agencies have access to the metadata of 23 million Australians as a result of the Government and Opposition's data retention regime?" Senator Ludlam said.

"A mandatory data breach notification scheme was a recommendation of the [Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security], and the Government needs to meet this recommendation and implement a scheme as a matter of urgency."