Hargitay's company, ECN, was initially hired by the England bid team but parted company following Lord Triesman's appointment as Football Association chairman.

FFA chief executive Ben Buckley said: "Peter Hargitay's company, ECN, has unique experience and expertise with FIFA and in world football, and particularly in providing high level strategic and networking advice and counsel.

"We are very fortunate to have him personally and ECN working for Australia's bid."

Hargitay, a Swiss national, was FIFA president Sepp Blatter's special adviser between 2002 and 2007.

It is believed he has been working on behalf of Australia for several months but this is the first official confirmation.

Australia are in the middle of a good spell in their World Cup bid campaign - their efforts at the Leaders in Football conference in London earlier this month led to FIFA vice-president Jack Warner criticising England's bid.

This week, as part of the bid process, the Australian ambassador in Cairo hosted a special reception for football figures in Egypt for the FIFA Under-20 World Cup.

It was attended by Blatter, Warner and FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke.