Malcolm Turnbull has downplayed the links between refugees and terrorism, saying that most of Australia's security threats have come from second and third generation Australians.

Mr Turnbull said Australia stood "shoulder to shoulder" with France, in the wake of a series of terrorist attacks on a Paris concert hall, restaurants and the Stade de France sporting venue, which killed at least 129 people and left more than 350 injured, 99 of them seriously.

Speaking from Turkey where he is attending the G20 summit, the Prime Minister told ABC's Insiders there was no reason to believe Australia was unsafe.

"At this stage, the advice is that there is no need to change the alert level that is being monitored constantly," he said.

"We cannot allow our national security or our national security policies to be dictated to by terrorists ... We have strong and capable security services.

"They keep us safe at home and, so far as they can, when we are abroad. There's no reason to be complacent, but we have every reason to be assured that our nation is safe."

Greg Barton, Professor of Global Islamic Politics at the Alfred Deakin Institute, said Australia's situation was very different to the one in Europe.

"We've got the luxury of properly, carefully vetting [the Syrian refugees'] IDs and their stories, carrying out background checks before they are accepted and doing things in an orderly fashion," he told ABC News Digital.

"European authorities are facing a wave of humanity — they don't have the luxury to do those things.

"Whilst, realistically, it would be foolish to acknowledge that there are no threats, it is also a risk to allow paranoia and anxiety to take hold at a large scale."

Mr Turnbull also echoed Indonesian president Joko Widodo, who earlier said Islamic State militants committed a "double crime" by defaming Islam.

"As Joko Widodo said, these terrorists commit a double crime," he said

"They are murderers. They are mass murderers. They are barbarians but at the same time, they also defame religion.

"They defame, they blaspheme, they defame Islam."

France, Australia 'will not be cowed by terrorism': Turnbull

Mr Turnbull said a collective, cooperative response to terrorism would be high on the agenda at looming G20 talks in Turkey.

He called on world leaders to work together for a political solution in Syria.

"This issue of a collective response of cooperation, of mutual support with a common purpose of combating and defeating terrorism of this kind has to be undertaken and it will be one of the major items on the agenda of this G20," he said.

"It was always going to be, but it will be made more so in the wake of the shocking attack in Paris.

"Ultimately, there has to be a political solution. The military angle is very important, it is very important that Daesh [Islamic State] is confronted and defeated militarily.

"Longer term, the stability of Syria — the stability that will enable those millions of refugees to return to their homes— will depend on a political solution."

Professor Barton said both recent terror attacks and Europe's asylum seeker crisis had strengthened calls for action in Syria.

"We have to do something in Syria that is different," he told ABC News Digital.

"We've seen success in both Syria and Iraq with Kurdish forces that shows us what boots on the ground, or soldiers, can do.

"That's why Julie Bishop has been talking about this for several months now, Malcolm Turnbull has been explicit in talking about it now he's in Anatolia for the G20 conference, as is [US secretary of state] John Kerry.

"The language has now really firmed up."

Mr Turnbull said his reaction to the attacks had been one of horror and shock.

"An attack of this scale is always terrible to watch unfold. But at the same time, I was inspired by the resilience and the patriotism of the Frenchmen and women who, the stadium outside of which some of the bombs had been exploded, were singing their national anthem.

"It just showed the fact that free societies like our own, like Australia's, like France's, will not be cowed by terrorism, no matter how shocking."