The Federal Government says the cancelled police operation in Melbourne involving border force officers had nothing to do with the Immigration Minister, but Labor is calling for him to give a full explanation.

Key points: The CPSU will raise its concerns with the Government

The CPSU will raise its concerns with the Government Border Force officers' powers need to be clarified, the Greens say

Border Force officers' powers need to be clarified, the Greens say The Human Rights Law Centre says future operations need legal justification

Australian Border Force (ABF) commissioner, Roman Quaedvlieg, said yesterday a "clumsily worded" media release preceded the cancellation of Operation Fortitude by Victoria Police, after a public backlash to the suggestion officers would be randomly stopping people to check visas.

Assistant Education Minister Simon Birmingham said it was up to Mr Quaedvlieg to find out what went wrong.

"He was clear that the minister's office was not involved in the issuing of that statement and it is really now up to him to get to the bottom of how this mistake occurred within his agency," Senator Birmingham told Sky News.

"The Government does not sanction and would not sanction random stoppages of people on the streets of Australian cities."

The original media statement from ABF said officers would be "speaking with any individual we cross paths with" and people should be "aware of the conditions of your visa".

Mr Quaedvlieg said it was approved at a "low-level", which was the ABF commander for Victoria and Tasmania, Don Smith, who was directly quoted in the statement.

Opposition Immigration spokesman Richard Marles said it was a "high farce" and the Minister Peter Dutton should front the media.

"Frankly to put a person in uniform up in front of a press conference as he did yesterday and go into hiding himself is gutless," Mr Marles told Channel Nine.

Mr Marles said there were unanswered questions about what the ABF officers were going to do.

"I tell you what you don't do, you don't announce an operation ahead of time where you're going to stand on tactically located street corners around Australia and ask the question of anyone who crosses their path," he said.

"I think we need to hear from the Minister about how they actually plan in a serious way to deal with the question of visa fraud. This was just a joke."

A spokesman for Immigration Minister Peter Dutton said yesterday ministers do not direct operations and the cancellation of the operation was a matter for Victoria Police.

Union, Greens demand answers over operation

The union representing Border Force officers will raise its members' concerns about the handling of Friday's controversial cancelled operation in Melbourne with the Immigration Department and Federal Government.

The Community and Public Sector Union's Nadine Flood said its members felt they had been put in an unsafe position by the mishandling of the situation.

"Border Force officers have raised very strong concerns with the CPSU," she said.

"We will be taking those up with the Department and the Government and saying that there is no way operations that compromise the community and staff can go ahead."

Ms Flood said union members were already under pressure.

"Border Force workers are already under enormous pressure. They've never seen their work politicised in this way," she said.

"The Government is also having a go at their wages and conditions and they've been taking industrial action, so these staff are in a really tough position and we'll be talking to them about what we do next."

The Greens have also demanded the powers of Border Force officers be clarified.

Yesterday, the Border Force commissioner said the officers' role had been misunderstood and they never intended to proactively seek out immigration breaches, but Ms Hanson-Young said she wanted a more detailed explanation.

"It's not clear at all what they think their role is, what indeed the powers are," she said.

"It needs to be cleaned up, they're not an arm of the military and they're not a police force.

"It's important that we get to the bottom of whose idea this was, who authorised it and why on earth anyone in the department or in the minister's office thought this was an appropriate thing to do," she said.

Concerns over militarisation of immigration officials

A peak human rights group said the ABF operation also raised concerns about the militarisation of immigration officials.

The Human Rights Law Centre's Hugh de Kretser said any operation in future would need legal justification.

"I think the broader concern is that it shows a pretty disturbing attitude," he said.