Australia is open to taking more refugees from Syria as the crisis in the Middle East worsens, but the federal government is unlikely to add any extra places to its humanitarian visa program.
Tony Abbott has sent Immigration Minister Peter Dutton to Geneva to discuss with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees what more Australia can do.
"We are disposed to take more people from that troubled region under our refugee and humanitarian program and we are open to providing more financial assistance to the UNHCR in the weeks and months ahead," the prime minister told reporters in Canberra on Sunday.
In particular, the government will look at taking families from persecuted minorities who are in refugee camps in countries around Syria and Iraq.
Australia set aside 4400 of its 13,750 humanitarian visas in the last financial year for refugees from Syria and Iraq.
Asked whether any move to take more refugees from the troubled region would be in addition to the annual intake, Mr Abbott said: "No".
"We are proposing to take more people from this region as part of a very substantial commitment to the UNHCR," he said.
"I'm not going to put a number on it now."
Mr Abbott stressed the fact Australia already took the most refugees per capita of any country, and said his government was ahead of the curve in allocating places specifically for those from Iraq and Syria last year.
"We've never let the world down and we're certainly not going to start now," he said.
"We can't save the world single-handedly, we shouldn't pretend otherwise, but nevertheless we will be a significant part of international efforts to help in this very difficult situation."
Opposition Leader Bill Shorten said Australia should be taking more refugees.
"I welcome Tony Abbott's belated recognition that Australia has a role to play here, but it's not enough," he said in a statement.
"It's time for Australia to show leadership, decency and compassion in response to this crisis."
Earlier, he told reporters Labor would support moves to increase the overall refugee intake and that politicians should work together "in the interests of humanity".
Labor resolved at its July national conference to double Australia's refugee intake to 27,000 by 2025.
The Abbott government already intends to lift the annual intake to 18,750 by mid-2019.
The Greens have called for an emergency extra 20,000 places for refugees fleeing Syria and northern Iraq.
Mr Abbott's announcement on Sunday amounted to "virtually nothing", the party's immigration spokeswoman, Sarah Hanson-Young, said.
"We've seen no real commitment to increase Australia's numbers of refugees and we're sending the do-nothing Dutton to Geneva to talk to the UN, while the rest of the world is urgently acting," she told reporters in Canberra.
The prime minister said the humanitarian response was as important as a military one to deal with Islamic State extremists.
He anticipated an announcement on Australia expanding air strikes to Syria, as well as action already happening in Iraq, would be made in the coming week.
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