The number of Australians arrested and hospitalised overseas skyrocketed last financial year, prompting a warning from Foreign Minister Julie Bishop about reckless behaviour and the growing workload placed on Australian consular officials.

A total of 1551 Australians were arrested in foreign countries in 2015-16, an increase of 23 per cent, with drugs, fraud and assault the most common offences. There were 391 Australians assisted in overseas jails, 61 of which were in mainland China.

A further 1667 Australians landed themselves in overseas hospitals, an increase of 15 per cent. The biggest hospitalisation hot-spots were Thailand, (176 incidents) Indonesia (153), the US (122), New Caledonia (75) and Vietnam (72).

Ms Bishop said the figures made for "interesting reading". She was particularly concerned about a lack of knowledge about local laws and customs, noting that Australian consular action was "significantly constrained" once people were subject to a foreign legal system.