Malcolm Turnbull's government has risked another costly brawl with Japan by backing an international resolution to condemn Tokyo's slaughter of whales.

The Prime Minister has risked an awkward encounter with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at a regional summit in Laos after Australia joined a bloc of 95 nations at the World Conservation Congress in Hawaii to demand a halt to whaling for so-called "scientific research".

Japanese whalers offloading a minke whale onto the Japanese whaling factory ship the Nisshin Maru in the Southern Ocean in February 2013. Credit:Glenn Lockitch/Sea Shepherd

However, even that is not enough for conservation groups, who want Australia to finally put a stop to the hunt in the Southern Ocean. A major global summit on whaling will convene next month in Europe.

The Hawaii resolution - which was also overwhelmingly supported by non-government organisations - called on Japan to revoke any "special permits" for whalers in the Southern Ocean and northern Pacific.