The genital mutilation of female children is much more common in Australia and by Australians overseas than authorities can detect, NSW community services minister Pru Goward says.

But toughening the law on this "hideous" crime is not an option, she says.

Instead, community engagement and education is needed to prevent more little girls being targeted, Goward told ABC Radio on Thursday.

Goward's comments came after a Sydney father was charged with having his then nine-month-old baby daughter circumcised while abroad in February 2012.

The alleged procedure was only discovered six months later when the child's mother brought her to the doctor, police said.

It is only the second prosecution case in relation to the practice in NSW and believed to be the first time a person has been charged with procuring the procedure abroad.

In 2012, eight members of a small religious order in Sydney – including a sheikh, a retired nurse and two parents – were charged over the female genital mutilation of two sisters, aged six and seven.

Their case remains before the courts.

Goward said anecdotal evidence showed the practice was "more common than the reports would suggest".

"It's so easy to hide within a community that condones it, within a household that condones it," Goward said.

She said it was only the second prosecution of a practice that was conducted in "secretive and very well-conspired arrangements" to hide it from the authorities.

The crime usually only came to light when the child suffered a complication from the procedure or there was a marital breakdown.

She said they had "looked and looked" at toughening the laws but felt increasing the penalties would not necessarily stop the crime from occurring.

"I think the law is tough enough," she said. "I think what does need to happen is that our immigration authorities have to get much more vigilant about advising communities that it is not lawful in Australia.

"We need to change attitudes and culture, that's a much slower process than changing the law."