The Turnbull government says it has no plans to follow America's lead and put troops on the ground in Syria. 
The Obama administration has given approval for almost 50 special forces troops to be deployed to the war-ravaged nation in the latest escalation in the fight against Islamic State militants.
But Finance Minister Mathias Cormann on Saturday said Australia had no plans to follow suit.
"Australia obviously supports international efforts to degrade and ultimately defeat the ISIS threat," he told Sky News.
"Obviously we work closely with the US in that conflict as we do so in many other contexts but at present the Australian government certainly doesn't have any plans to change our involvement."
If that was to change at any stage "down the track" it would be a matter for Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and his cabinet to consider and announce, he said.
Opposition Leader Bill Shorten said no one had made the case for our ground troops in the conflict.
Adam Gartrell