Asked for her opinion on whether Australia should be concerned about any risk of interference from China, similar to that posed by Russia to the US, she said "Yes. My answer is yes."

"That is not to argue there would be a confrontational relationship between Australia and China," she cautioned.

"Australia has a lot of interests with China. Certainly your economy is entwined with China, but I do think that Australia, along with other liberal democracies around the world, have got to take the threat of foreign interference reasonably seriously."

Ms Clinton said she knew from reading about it that there have been instances of political efforts by certain Chinese interests to direct certain policy outcomes, and emphasised that opposing such interference should be bipartisan.

"Australians need to be for Australians. Americans need to be for Americans," she said.

"Whether it is Russia in a secret way interfering with our location and producing more than 3500 ads to confuse our electorate to try to damage me, or the Chinese looking to try to influence policy, we should say, 'No'.

"I don't care what side of the political aisle you might be on in Australia or the United States, we have a commitment to make sure decisions made by our governments are not the result of some kind of influence peddling by a foreign power."

The Turnbull government is attempting to crack down on foreign influence in Australian affairs by requiring foreign actors and their intermediaries to be registered, as well as a ban on foreign donations to political and associated entities.

Last month Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull conceded those actions had caused "tension in the relationship" with China but said he was confident any "misunderstandings" would be resolved.

Fairfax Media has also reported on the covert influence of the Chinese government on university campuses and in local Chinese-language media.

Ms Clinton has visited Sydney and Melbourne over the weekend for a speaking visit in which she addressed her loss to President Donald Trump, the rise of "fake news" delivered by social media, and the future of liberal democracy.

Asked by Sales on Monday what the latest occupation on her CV – after lawyer, First Lady, Secretary of State and presidential candidate, she replied: "Activist. Citizen activist."

"At this point, at least in my country, but I think it is broader than that, being involved, speaking out, caring about what goes on, is something that we should all do more of."

with Michael Koziol