The families agreed to a confidential settlement with Malaysia Airlines ahead of an eight-day Federal Court hearing due to start in Sydney.

“The Court approves the settlement and dismissal of these proceedings on the terms set out in the release between the parties dated 5 June 2019,” Justice Nye Perram wrote in his orders on Wednesday.

The settlement is to remain confidential.

Cassandra Gibson whose mother, Liliane Derden, was among the 38 Australians killed in the July 17, 2014 disaster, was the lead plaintiff in the case. The plane was on its way between Amsterdam and Kuala Lumpur when it was shot down over eastern Ukraine near the Russian border in territory held by pro-Russian separatists.

Last week the Dutch-led international team named four suspects - Russians Sergey Dubinsky, Oleg Pulatov and Igor Girkin, and Ukrainian Leonid Kharchenko. It said international arrest warrants for the four had been issued. Russian President Vladimir Putin rejects the accusations.

Foreign Minister Marise Payne has said the charges and international arrest warrants are an important step in what will be a “long process”.