BANGKOK - Australia is considering imposing sanctions on Myanmar as the security and human rights situation there deteriorates, Foreign Minister Penny Wong said on Wednesday.

Speaking to journalists during a trip to Thailand, Wong called for an end to violence against civilians in Myanmar and for its military government to allow access for humanitarian aid.

Australia would support efforts by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to achieve peace in Myanmar, she said. While she said Australia was considering sanctions, she did not elaborate on the nature or timing of any such measures.

Myanmar has been mired in unrest and political, social and economic turmoil since the military overthrew an elected government in Feb. 2021.

Australia had imposed sanctions on some Myanmar generals in previous years, but unlike some Western countries it has not added sanctions since the coup.

Myanmar's ruling junta denies allegations of human rights violations and war crimes.

ASEAN last week said it would continue to pressure Myanmar to implement a peace plan agreed last year, even though it acknowledged the junta's failure to make significant progress.

Wong also rejected a Myanmar court ruling against Sean Turnell, an Australian economist and former adviser to Myanmar's deposed leader Aung San Suu Kyi. Turnell was sentenced in Myanmar in September to three years in jail for violating a state secrets law. The case remains a "top priority", Wong said.

(Reporting by Panu Wongcha-um; Editing by Kanupriya Kapoor, Ed Davies and Peter Graff)