Former Liberal prime minister Malcolm Fraser has called for an Australian federal bill of rights to protect individuals and restrain governments.

Delivering his inaugural professorial lecture at the University of Melbourne Law School tonight, Mr Fraser said there had been increasing disregard over the past seven years for the rule of law in the name of national security.

He said examples included refugees being sent to Nauru, children kept in detention centres and Australian citizens being deported.

"We seriously need a bill of rights following the practice of all European Union countries, New Zealand, Canada and the US. We're the odd man out," Mr Fraser said in his lecture, Finding Security in Terrorism's Shadow: The Importance of the Rule of Law.

Mr Fraser acknowledged moves by Victoria and the ACT to establish a bill of rights, but said state legislation only applied to state law.

"We need a federal bill of rights to act as a restraint on governments, to provide some benchmarks for our judicial processes," Mr Fraser said.

New measures were needed to support the independence of the High Court, such as establishing a judicial council to suggest appointments to the Federal and High courts, he said.

Mr Fraser said constitutional changes should be sought so the approval of the Senate and the House of Representative would be required before any government could take Australia to war.

Internationally, reform of the UN's Security Council "must be undertaken", Mr Fraser said, and Australia should use its relationship with the US to support peaceful international measures.

"We should use our status as an ally of the US to persuade the US that these major issues are of critical importance to a peaceful world," Mr Fraser said.

"There's a real role for a middle-ranking country such as Australia acting in concert with others such as Canada, Sweden and India and many more in strengthening the international system," Mr Fraser said.