Labor leader Bill Shorten says his team will speak to Julian Assange's lawyers about his legal situation within a few weeks.
Supporters of Assange are calling on the Australian government to do more to help the WikiLeaks founder after he was taken into custody in the United Kingdom.
The Labor leader was asked at a town hall meeting in Woy Woy about Assange.
"You were using the analogy of a journalist, I don't know if Assange was a journalist," Mr Shorten told the crowd on Saturday.
"I'm not going to say to you he's just like a backpacker who's been on a binge in Bangkok and needs the help of the embassy. I accept it has more importance than that."
Mr Shorten said every Australian is entitled to consular assistance from the Australian government.
"I'm happy to get my spokespeople to talk to his lawyers in the course of the next few weeks, I think that's a fair enough request," Mr Shorten said.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has said Assange's high profile would get him no special treatment from the government, which he said was providing consular assistance to the 47-year-old.
"Julian Assange will get the same consular support and assistance that any other Australian would receive," Mr Morrison told reporters on Friday.
Assange's supporters fear he could face the death penalty if the US succeeds in a bid to extradite him over the release of thousands of classified government documents almost a decade ago.
