Australian Foreign Minister Bob Carr has requested that Israel hand over all information at its disposal in the Prisoner X affair, involving the imprisonment and death of Australian national Ben Zygier in Ayalon Prison in 2010.

Speaking to reporters in Sydney on Sunday, Carr asked the government of Israel for information to assist the foreign ministry's launch of an independent investigation into Zygier's death and the circumstances of the affair.

"We have asked the Israeli government for a contribution to that report. We want to give them an opportunity to submit to us an explanation of how this tragic death came about," he said.

Carr also said that he is interested in conducting a comprehensive investigation to assess whether the consular team in Australia's foreign ministry in Tel Aviv acted sufficiently to examine Zygier's condition and see whether there were any failures in conduct.

"I need to know what the contact was between Australian agencies and those of Israel, and I need to see what the Israelis want to tell Australia,'' he said. "The key is to get all the information.''

At the same time, Carr's predecessor Kevin Rudd, who was foreign minister at the time of Zygier's imprisonment and death in 2010, said it was important to investigate what happened and react decisively, as it did following the debacle in which the Mossad used Australian passorts in the Mabhouh assassination operation. At the time, the Mossad representative stationed in Canberra was kicked out following an investigation by Australian security forces.

According to Australian media, immediately following Zygier's arrest in February 2010, the Shin Bet informed its Australian counterpart, the ASIO, regarding details of the investigation. ASIO representatives in Australia's embassy in Tel Aviv passed the details to the ambassador and a handful of other senior officials in the embassy.

Later this week, the State Prosecutor is expected to publish the results of the probe into Zygier's death. The circumstances of Zygier’s death were under investigation for about two years in a judicial procedure behind closed doors before Judge Daphna Blatman Kedrai of the Rishon Letzion Magistrate’s Court.

At the conclusion of the procedure about two months ago, Blatman Kedrai determined that Zygier had committed suicide and instructed the prosecution to examine whether there had been neglect in the guarding of the prisoner that justified filing an indictment.