Australia plans to deport would-be asylum seekers to detention camps in the poor countries of Papua New Guinea and Nauru.

It is a change of policy for the ruling Labour Party and comes after more than 7000 asylum seekers – many from war-torn countries such as Afghanistan, Iraq and Sri Lanka – have reached the Australian Indian Ocean territory of Christmas Island this year.

The government had previously argued against the concept of Australian-funded detention camps in other nations as a waste of money that would fail to deter new arrivals.

However, Prime Minister Julia Gillard said her government had accepted the recommendation of an expert panel to reopen camps established a decade ago, and that laws to enable the deportation of asylum seekers would be introduced to parliament.

"When our nation looks at what is happening at sea as people attempt dangerous journeys to Australia, too many lives have been lost and I'm not going to play politics or look at political scoreboards when too many lives have been lost," Ms Gillard said after the Cabinet gave its support in principle for all the recommendations in the expert panel's report.