NSW Police have backed down on an attempt to have all of their evidence heard in private at the Sydney siege inquest.

Key points: Police want some Sydney siege inquest sessions closed to the public

Police want some Sydney siege inquest sessions closed to the public Counsel assisting says secrecy of police tactics must be balanced with information sharing

Counsel assisting says secrecy of police tactics must be balanced with information sharing Coroner will hear more of the debate over keeping sessions secret next week

Police had made the proposal in order to protect their tactics and methodology from scrutiny.

But after talks with legal teams representing the victims' families and the media, they are now seeking to have only part of it heard privately.

NSW coroner Michael Barnes is investigating the deaths of two hostages and gunman Man Haron Monis in the Lindt Cafe in December 2014.

Cafe manager Tori Johnson was fatally shot in the back of the head by Monis during the 17-hour siege - before police stormed the cafe and shot the gunman dead.

Hostage Katrina Dawson died after being hit by shrapnel from police bullets.

The surviving hostages have finished giving their evidence and Mr Barnes is now hearing evidence about how police managed the siege.

Counsel assisting Jeremy Gormly SC had said there was a need to balance protecting police methodology with reporting the siege to the public.

He said four officers first called to Martin Place would give evidence over the next few days but after that, police wanted some of the hearings to be closed.

"There has arisen an issue about the degree to which some aspects of the evidence have to be dealt with," he said.

"There seems to be a general acceptance that police adopt policies to deal with violence and possible terrorist activity that must be kept secret.

"We know for example there are lone wolves like Monis ... and there are others who aren't lone wolves.

"They work in groups that function with a greater capacity, degree of planning than was demonstrated by Monis."

Mr Gormly said the inquest was already using pseudonyms for some of the officers who attended the siege - but there was disagreement around making the events of the siege public while protecting police methodologies.

The coroner will next week hear further arguments about keeping some of the police evidence in closed hearings.

Superintendent used lessons learned during 'collar bomb' hoax

Today, Superintendent Allan Sicard said he was called to Martin Place the morning of the siege because he was a relieving local area commander at the time.

He said he had previously attended major incidents that included the 2011 Maddie Pulver collar bomb hoax - in which Paul Douglas Peters kept police at bay for 10 hours after he let them think he had put an explosive device around the neck of the 18-year-old student in her Mosman home in Sydney's north.

Superintendent Sicard said one of the lessons he learned from the collar bomb hoax was to delegate and tell fire officials to have a plan in place to deal with the incident.

He said when he got to Martin Place there were a number of police vehicles and it was closed off to the public with an "effective perimeter" in place.

Superintendent Sicard said he was first told there were eight hostages and one gunman - but he later learned there were more hostages.

When he spoke to Senior Constable Paul Withers - the highway patrol officer who first eyeballed the hostages and Monis through the cafe glass door - the officer was distressed that he had been told to back away from the cafe.

"It was obvious when I got there this was a massive job ... and I would need extensive resources," he said.

The inquest continues.