The Australian government has urged Australians not to travel to Lebanon but says its too early to consider evacuating those already in the country, after an Australian man was killed in fierce fighting over the weekend.

The 42-year-old Melbourne man, Fadi Sheikh, was visiting his parents when he was killed in fighting between pro and anti-government groups in the country's north, ABC reported. He had a wife and five children.

"This death underlines the highly dangerous situation in Lebanon and the need for Australians to continue to exercise extreme caution," a Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade spokesman said.

The department advised Australians not to travel to Lebanon.

"Political tensions are very high and there continues to be outbursts of politically motivated violence, including exchanges of weapons fire particularly in Beirut," the DFAT website says.

The department was also concerned for thousands of Australians already in Lebanon, and warned them to remain indoors away from windows.

"There are currently 2956 Australians in Lebanon who have registered with DFAT, however we estimate there may be as many as 25,000," the spokesman said,

Australians should avoid any protests or demonstrations as they could turn violent. It was "not possible to predict where the next flashpoints might be", the spokesman said.

"Australians should not assume that any lull in the fighting means the situation is safe and we urge them to maintain extreme caution."

The spokesman said it was too early to consider evacuating Australians from Lebanon, a course of action taken by the Government after conflict erupted between Lebanon and Israel in July 2006.

"We are not at [the point of evacuating Australians] yet ... however we are continually looking at the situation," he said.