Iraq has pleaded for more help in fighting Islamic State after suffering a series of embarrassing setbacks including the fall of Ramadi, and learning that hundreds more armed and trained foreign fighters have entered the country.

However the US-led coalition formed to fight IS insists that its current strategy will lead to the defeat of the terror group.

While Australia's Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said Australia would consider any request for further military help, she said Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi had not asked for it in their meeting on Tuesday.

Ms Bishop and Mr Abadi were in Paris for a top-level meeting of the 22-nation coalition to counter Islamic State, also known as Da'esh.

Before the meeting Mr Abadi said the advance of IS was a failure for the world, and Iraq "needs all the support of the world" to counter that advance.

He countered recent doubts over the Iraqi security forces' willingness to fight - US Defence Secretary Ash Carter complained that Iraqi forces lacked the "will to fight" - insisting that Iraqis were "prepared to fight" for their country, but he said his country needed more support on the ground.

Antony Blinken, US deputy secretary of state, said it would be a "long campaign" against IS.

"Right now we have the right strategy," he said," a combination of coalition air strikes, training equipping (and) assisting. That is the winning strategy."

Mr Abadi described to the meeting his country's plan to fight IS in the Anbar province and "it is the right plan both militarily and politically", Mr Blinken said.

"The struggle against Da'esh must be won by the Iraqi people. We must therefore do all that we can as quickly as we can to help Iraq bring fully capable and inclusive national security forces that will operate professionally and under a unified chain of command."

Australia has sent 300 soldiers to train the Iraqi army. It has also sent 200 special forces to the region and is conducting air strikes.

Retired Australian army general Jim Molan said this week Australia and the US should go "beyond the wire" of training camps onto the battlefield in Iraq, to help boost the confidence of local forces.

However Ms Bishop said it was important for Iraqi security forces to stay on the front line – psychologically and to maintain local support.

Australia's training and support work would help build the Iraqi capacity to fight IS, she said.

"This is what they have asked us to do and we are fulfilling that role," she said.

"We haven't been asked (to provide more on-the-ground support). If a request has been made we'll consider it but Australia is already the second-largest contributor ... after the US. (Mr Abadi's) plea is to other nations who have not yet provided a military contribution.

"The prime minister did not ask Australia to do any more than we are."

Ms Bishop said there was no suggestion at the meeting that the coalition would put more combat troops on the ground in Iraq. The discussion over further help related to training, advice and humanitarian support, she said.

"(Mr Abadi) was very confident that the Iraqi security forces would be able to recapture Ramadi and he also laid out a plan for recapturing other areas within Iraq that had been taken by Iraq and that included Mosul."

Mr Abadi and Ms Bishop also discussed ways Australia could stop fighters and money going to IS from Australia.

And Ms Bishop used the meeting and surrounding bilaterals to attempt to build consensus that Iran should be a part of the coalition at the highest level.

"Iran has a military presence in Iraq and there needs to be a framework for engagement with all of the stakeholders seeking to fight against Da'esh and that includes Iran," she said.

Some coalition partners agreed, others pointed out problems, but overall "there was a view that engagement of some form or another with Iran is necessary" Ms Bishop said.

She argued that including Iran would enable better co-ordination in actions against IS, between coalition air strikes and the Iraqi security forces and Shiite militia on the ground.

Ms Bishop said she was left "optimistic" about the fight against IS after the meeting.

"There will be the resources, the energy and the political will to defeat Da'esh," she said.