Prime Minister Tony Abbott says he is prepared to "step up to the plate" and increase the number of refugees Australia accepts from war-torn Syria, but within the current humanitarian intake.

Mr Abbott was urged to increase Australia's refugee intake after photos of drowned Syrian toddler Aylan Kurdi on a Turkish beach shocked the world and put a human face to the dangers refugees risk trying to reach safety.

On Sunday afternoon the Prime Minister told a press conference he was moved by the images of Aylan, and was prepared to lift the percentage of refugees Australia takes from Syria.

But he said the increase would not mean Australia's overall yearly intake of refugees, which stands at 13,750, would go up.

"No, we are proposing to take more people from this region as part of our very substantial commitment," he told a press conference in Canberra.

"Our focus will be on families and women and children, especially of persecuted minorities, who have sought refuge in camps neighbouring Syria and Iraq."

Last financial year Australia settled more than 4,400 people from Syria and Iraq, Mr Abbott said, adding that the overall refugee intake will increase to 18,750 by 2018.

Mr Abbott said Immigration Minister Peter Dutton would leave for Geneva on Sunday night to ask the United Nations how the Government can assist in the crisis.

He said the Government was considering further funding for humanitarian assistance to those seeking refuge in refugee camps.

"Australia, as always, will step up to the plate. We always do when there is a problem in the world," Mr Abbott said.

Mr Abbott also said a "strong security response" was needed for the region.

Cabinet's National Security Committee will this week make a decision on whether to launch air strikes against Islamic State (IS) targets in Syria, and is almost certain to authorise the action.

Opposition Leader Bill Shorten called on the Government to lift the overall refugee intake.

"Labor believes that we can take more refugees in Australia. We should also be providing greater resources to the United Nations High Commission for Refugees," he said.

Labor agreed at its July national conference that it would double the current refugee intake to 27,500 by 2025.

The Greens want Australia to accept 20,000 Syrian refugees immediately.

Other countries helping out include Britain, which will take in 15,000 Syrian refugees according to a Sunday Times report, and Canada, which will accept an additional 10,000 people from Syria and Iraq annually over the next three years.

Bishop suggests 'safe havens' for displaced

The Prime Minister's comments come after Trade Minister Andrew Robb said increasing the refugee intake to help Syrians fleeing the war had been "under review".

"We hadn't made a final decision, but I would suspect that given the circumstances, we'll look very favourably at that and I personally think I'll support that," he told Insiders.

But Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop gave no commitment to increasing the refugee intake, and said an alternative option would be the creation of so-called safe havens within Syria and along its border.

Space to play or pause, M to mute, left and right arrows to seek, up and down arrows for volume. Watch Duration: 15 minutes 56 seconds 15 m Andrew Robb talks to insiders

"There should be consideration to whether we can set up safe havens inside Syria, inside Iraq, so that people who don't want to leave can remain in their home country but safe from the terrorist attacks," she said.

South Australian Premier Jay Weatherill, meanwhile, joined his New South Wales counterpart Mike Baird in calling on the Government to act.

"We certainly will be offering South Australia as an open and welcoming destination for those Syrians fleeing violence," he said.

Mr Baird said on Saturday the disturbing images of Aylan's lifeless body on the beach moved him to think "surely we can do more" to help the "plight of the persecuted and the poor".

"It is a great thing that we don't have children drowning at sea trying to get to our shores. That has been a significant humanitarian achievement," he said in an emotional Facebook post.

"But stopping the boats can't be where this ends. It is surely where humanitarianism begins."

More than 240,000 people have been killed in Syria since 2011 and millions more have been displaced.

The conflict, which began with anti-government protests, has evolved into a complex multi-front war, with regime and rebel forces as well as Kurds and Islamic State (IS) group terrorists involved in the fighting.

Many Syrians are among the asylum seekers arriving in Europe, where Austria and Germany have thrown open their borders to thousands of exhausted people.

ABC/AFP