The state has spent $8.5 million holding 102 suspected people smugglers on remand or in custody, Mr Smith said.
Most were transferred to NSW's jurisdiction after being arrested for offences that allegedly occurred offshore.
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Mr Smith expects about 60 people smuggler trials to take place this year, at a cost of $5 million.
"It is unreasonable to expect the states and territories to bear the costs of running people smuggling trials and imprisoning offenders for crimes that generally occurred well outside of their jurisdiction," Mr Smith said in a statement.
"While the Commonwealth spent more than $1.7 billion on combating people smuggling in 2010-11, it has not shared any of that money with the states and territories for the trials that follow."
Mr Smith said an average people smuggling trial takes about 11 days to complete and costs about $85,000.
He said the issue would be raised during a meeting of state and territory attorneys general in Canberra next week.
