The Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) chief executive promised they would take any bid from Australia "seriously".

Grevemberg insisted the CGF were comfortable with the prospect of holding the Games in Australia just eight years after Gold Coast 2018.

Australia and the United Kingdom have hosted five of the last six editions of the Games and the CGF are keen to head to a newer destination in 2026.

"We will take that seriously and the results speak for themselves, Australia hosts great events," Grevemberg said.

"It gets stronger and stronger here and they have a great pedigree so we look forward to seeing what the future holds."

Malaysia are among the leading contenders after they opted not to pursue a formal bid for the 2022 event, awarded to the English city of Birmingham in December, to focus on 2026.

Australia remain positioned to launch an attempt if interest from Malaysia and other countries fails to materialise.

Perth, which hosted the Games in 1962, appears to be the front-runner as a possible Australian candidate at this stage.

An audit of the facilities in the Western Australian city will now be carried out to gauge Perth’s suitability for hosting the event, according to Perth Now.

Gold Coast 2018 chairman Peter Beattie has reportedly pinpointed Perth as a possible host city for 2026.

A feasibility study would also have to be carried out before Perth can proceed with a bid, the report added.

"We are having an audit of our facilities," Western Australia’s Sport and Recreation Minister Mick Murray told PerthNow.

"This is twofold.

"One reason is that we are looking into the future to see what sporting facilities we need and the other is in case it is decided to have a crack at getting the Commonwealth Games for Perth.

"The aim is to make sure we have facilities which are up to scratch.

"Yes, we have a new stadium, but the stadium is only one small part of what is needed to hold a Commonwealth Games.

"We need to know exactly what’s needed."

The CGF confirmed last month that they were considering a double award of the 2026 and 2030 Games when they launched the bid process for the former event.

Canada have expressed an interest in staging a centenary edition of the Games in 2030, having hosted the inaugural event in Hamilton in 1930, when the event was called the British Empire Games.

The CGF claimed this would not make either Australia or Malaysia favourites for 2026 and urged cities from other countries to come forward.

Under plans for the 2026 bid process, a dialogue phase is now underway, where Commonwealth Games Federation Partnerships - a partnership between the CGF and Lagardère Sports aimed at achieving a delivery model that develops new long-term commercial strategies and further strengthens community relations in host cities - will seek to gauge initial interest.

The feasibility phase will then begin, where the development of the Games concept and alignment of stakeholders is expected to take place.

Candidates would need to be committed to a bid by December 31 this year.

The finalisation of the concept, the development of a candidature file and securing guarantees and funding, would follow in the candidature phase.

After a shorter evaluation phase, an eventual decision would rest with the CGF General Assembly in 2019 as to where the Games would be awarded.