Australian prime minister Julia Gillard went with bilateral talks in Malaysia on Monday despite her counterpart Najib Razak having a suspected case of chicken pox.
The ABC reports Ms Gillard met deputy prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin instead.
She raised the federal government's proposal for a regional processing centre for asylum seekers.
Ms Gillard was also expected to discuss a free trade agreement the two countries have been negotiating since 2005.
Before flying to Malaysia, Ms Gillard visited Vietnam for the East Asian summit.
While there, she signed a deal to spend $A160 million over five years to build a new bridge across the Mekong River.
