The country's highest immigration official says the person behind the leaking of a draft government document could be jailed.

The document, which outlines plans for sweeping changes to Australia's humanitarian resettlement program, was leaked to the ABC's Lateline program late last week.

Neither Immigration Minister Peter Dutton nor Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull had seen the document, marked "protected", "sensitive" and "Cabinet".

The leaking of the document has been referred to the Australian Federal Police, a Senate estimates committee was told today.

Department of Immigration and Border Protection Secretary Michael Pezzullo said the matter was referred to the police on Friday.

Mr Pezzullo could not say how long the investigation would take, but said it could result in jail time for those responsible.

"It's a serious breach. It's criminal and people could go to jail," he said.

Mr Pezzullo confirmed that Mr Turnbull and Mr Dutton had not seen the document.

Documents outlines plan for tougher migration program

The document points to the recent attacks in Paris and unrest in Germany as it outlines "a package of reforms to simplify Australia's visa framework and create stronger controls over access to permanent residence and citizenship".

Those changes include:

An enforceable integration framework to assess aspiring migrants' suitability for life in Australia

An enforceable integration framework to assess aspiring migrants' suitability for life in Australia A revamped citizenship test and citizenship pledge

A revamped citizenship test and citizenship pledge Enhanced access to, use of and protection of sensitive information to strengthen intelligence-led, risk-based decision making, from pre-visa stage through to post-citizenship conferral.

Presumably, that would mean refugees brought to Australia under its humanitarian program would be closely monitored, even after they became Australian citizens.

The document said Mr Dutton would bring forward the proposals in the first half of 2016 "to reform the visa framework and remove direct access to permanent residence to better align visa and citizenship decision-making with national security and community protection outcomes".

Removing direct access to permanent residence would see bona fide refugees accepted by Australia no longer given the certainty of a life in Australia.