Human rights advocates are urging the foreign minister to raise refugee rights, disappearances and extrajudicial killings during her visit to Bangladesh this week.
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Marise Payne is the first Australian foreign minister to visit the south Asian nation in two decades.
She will meet with government leaders, discuss environmentally sustainable marine industries, and visit Rohingya refugees at Cox's Bazar.
Human Rights Watch's Australia director Elaine Pearson said the visit came at a time of immense political repression.
"Opposition and other critics of the ruling party face arbitrary arrests, disappearances, torture, and extrajudicial killings," Ms Pearson said on Wednesday.
"Foreign Minister Marise Payne should demonstrate to Bangladesh's civil society that their rights are a part of this important step in the relationship between Australia and Bangladesh by raising these most pressing issues."
Senator Payne says Australia has been a leading aid donor and she intends to canvass the refugee crisis.
"My discussions with Bangladesh government leaders will focus on countering violent extremism, growing trade and investment links, promoting the Australian education sector, and addressing the Rohingya crisis," she said.
Australian Associated Press
