Foreign Affairs minister Julie Bishop informs the House of Reps that 251 of the 298 victims of the MH17 plane crash have been identified.

MORE than 250 victims of the shooting down of flight MH17 have been identified, Julie Bishop has told Parliament.

The Foreign Minister gave the update while tabling a copy of a treaty between Australia and the Kingdom of the Netherlands, allowing Australian personnel to work in the country.

In a Ministerial statement to the Lower House, Ms Bishop said 251 of the 298 victims of the Malaysia Airlines crash have been identified so far.

But she was unable to confirm the number of Australian victims identified due to privacy reasons.

“However it will be some time before the identification is complete,” she said.

Ms Bishop said Australia has been providing all possible assistance in the wake of the incident.

“We are under no illusions about the challenges involved in identifying the perpetrators but we are determined to do everything we can to deliver justice for the victims of MH17 and their families.”

The Minister, who signed the treaty on August 1, said it allowed Australian personnel to work within the Netherlands.

The Department of Defence and the Federal Police needed certain rights and protections, she said.

“The Netherlands advised it was only able to provide such rights and protections under a treaty.

“This treaty defines the scope of permissible Australian activity in the Netherlands.

“It provides that Australians deployed to the Netherlands remain under Australia’s command and control and that any necessary administrative or disciplinary action would be taken by Australia not the Netherlands.”

Immunities and privileges will be extended to Australian personnel and they will be able to carry weapons, under the treaty.

“It enables them to wear field uniforms and regulates information sharing and disclosure.”

Ms Bishop praised the “outstanding” work of the Netherlands in “bringing dignity and respect to the retrieval process”.

She also welcomed a preliminary report into the incident released earlier this month.

“The damage to the aircraft documented in this preliminary report is consistent with the Australian government’s initial assessment voiced as early as the morning of the 18th of July that MH17 had been shot down by a surface-to-air missile by Ukrainian territory under the control of the Russian backed separatists,” she said.

The Minister insisted Australian investigators still hope to return to the crash site when it is safe, accompanied by their Dutch counterparts.