Hours before the prize was presented to the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons in Oslo on Sunday night, co-founder Dimity Hawkins said it was "gratifying to win a Nobel Peace Prize but we've still got to get ourselves to zero nukes".

"The biggest prize will be to have all nations - including Australia - sign up to the nuclear weapons ban treaty which we helped bring about at the UN this year."

She was "absolutely elated" at the $1.42 million prize.

"In the grand tradition of [movie] The Castle, this is going straight to the pool room," she said.

Speaking on the steps of Victorian parliament, where ICAN launched in 2007, its Australian chair Richard Tanter said loyalty to the US was why Australia wasn't among 122 nations that voted to pass the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons at the UN in July. Fifty-six countries have signed.

But "with no serious nuclear threats" we had nothing to fear.

"It's time for Australia to stand up for itself, be self reliant in defence, and say, 'we're a friend of the United States, but we don't need nuclear deterrents' - that's a threat, rather than a solution."

Professor Tanter believes that if Labor wins the next election, it will sign the treaty.

The solution to nuclear tensions between North Korea and the US wasn't more bombs. "The only path forward is prohibiting the bomb and then abolishing it."

On Sunday, the Federal Government reiterated its decision, after the October prize announcement, not to explicitly congratulate ICAN.

Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said: "The Australian Government acknowledges ICAN for promoting awareness of the humanitarian consequences of nuclear weapons".

She said Australia focuses on "practical and meaningful nuclear disarmament measures" such as the promotion of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty "and to improve the transparency of nuclear arsenals".

Ms Hawkins and Professor Tanter were among ICAN members and supporters who watched a live cross to the Oslo ceremony at Melbourne Town Hall on Sunday night.

Premier Daniel Andrews, former federal politician Peter Garrett and musician Tim Rogers sent video tributes.

Guests included Karina and Rose Lester, whose father, late Yankunytjatjara elder Yami Lester, went blind after British nuclear testing in South Australia in the 1950s.

The sisters urged the government not to "repeat the mistakes" of supporting nuclear weapons.

"Indigenous people are part of this country, and our message is, 'it happened in our own backyard, we need Australia to be on board now and support us, in actually signing the treaty'," said Karina Lester.