Former New Zealand World Cup-winning coach Steve Hansen is set to help Australia prepare for their game against France this week.

New Zealand Prime Minister Chris Hipkins joked he would cancel Hansen's citizenship.

Hansen said he was voluntarily helping out for "three or four days" at Australia coach Eddie Jones' request.

Jones said the relationship was "like a mate coming in and having a beer (and asking him) 'what do you think, where can we improve?'"

Playing down his role, Hansen, who led the All Blacks from 2012 to 2019 and won the 2015 World Cup, told New Zealand radio station Newstalk ZB: "I'd just like to put everybody's mind at rest that I haven't joined the Wallabies for the Rugby World Cup.

"I'm only here for about three or four days at the request of Eddie, a good mate of mine, just to give him some feedback on what he is doing. Rugby is bigger than all of us, so happy to do that."

Jones has lost all four of his games in charge of the Wallabies since taking over from Dave Rennie in January.

Australia face France on Sunday in their final warm-up game before the World Cup with Hansen set to have a look at "training quality" and "leadership" throughout the week.

"I have coached against Steve since 1998. We have a long relationship and we enjoy each other's company," Jones said.

"We have brought in Steve to have a look at what we are doing."

Jones added that the Australian players, led by new captain Will Skelton, reacted well to Hansen's arrival in camp and he had provided plenty of "wisdom" with his feedback.

Australia face Wales, Fiji, Georgia and Portugal in their World Cup pool.