Prime Minister Tony Abbott is set to announce a "generous" boost to the number of Syrian refugees today, as well as extra dollars for the agencies that help people who have fled extremism.

Key points: Government to announce response to Syrian refugee crisis today

Government to announce response to Syrian refugee crisis today Focus of intake minorities that are largely Christian

Focus of intake minorities that are largely Christian Labor warns emphasis on helping Christian refugees is "dangerous"

Labor warns emphasis on helping Christian refugees is "dangerous" RAAF jets to be sent into action over Syria

He will also formalise the Federal Government's plan to allow RAAF jets to conduct air strikes against Islamic State targets in Syria.

Federal Cabinet will finalise the refugee intake agreements this morning, with a source telling the ABC it will be a "generous" figure and the refugees will get permanent protection rather than temporary visas.

It is not clear yet how many extra people will be accepted. Australia's current intake slated for this year is 13,750. The Coalition's options range from lifting the refugee quota by 5,000, to taking a one-off group of 10,000 or more.

Foreign Minister Julie Bishop says the response will be "considered and measured" and appropriate for a country like Australia "that takes its international obligations seriously".

"We are able to work with the UNHCR, with the International Organisation of Migration and choose the people that we will take," the Foreign Minister said.

"We partner with them, we provide them funding and then we say 'we will focus on women and children and families of the persecuted minorities' for example.

"Australia can say that we can determine who will come."

The Federal Government has already flagged that the focus of its intake of Syrian refugees will be minorities that are largely Christian.

Government ministers like Malcolm Turnbull have argued for accepting more Syrian Christians, and Ms Bishop has nominated minorities like the Yazidis.

One backbencher told the ABC the message being sent to the Prime Minister by some in the Coalition was clear: "No more Muslim men."

Nationals MP George Christensen said Christians should be prioritised.

"I think that any Christian walking around in Syria, and many of those places throughout the middle east at the moment, because of Islamic State, basically has a target on their forehead or a dotted line around their neck where ISIS wants to cut," he told the ABC.

"So if your life is threatened as their lives are, they should be prioritised."

'More than a whiff of White Australia'

Greens leader Richard Di Natale said he acknowledged Christians would make up a significant proportion of the refugee intake, but said Muslims were also facing persecution.

"We're on, I think, very dangerous territory here if we start deciding that our intake should be based on race or religion," he told Radio National.

"To go down that road has more than a whiff of the White Australia Policy about it."

Labor's Tanya Plibersek has also warned against discriminating.

"We have to maintain a focus on taking the most vulnerable people," she said.

"Australia's immigration policies, particularly our humanitarian policy has to be non-discriminatory.

"Of course, in many instances it will be ethnic minorities and religious minorities that are most at risk, women on their own, children who are unaccompanied.

" All of these are particularly vulnerable and I would expect our humanitarian policy to take account of that vulnerability.

"But the basis of our policy should not discriminate on religion or ethnicity or gender."

"Being a victim of war doesn't know a particular religion," Opposition Leader Bill Shorten said on Tuesday.

"If you're a woman facing terrible crimes to be committed against you, if you're a child, a little child, potentially drowning at sea, I'm not interested in their religion, I'm interested in their safety."

State and territory governments would be required to provide housing and schools for the extra refugee families and their children.

The ACT's Multicultural Affairs Minister, Labor's Yvette Berry, insisted that would be done.

"We will find a way, this is about providing people with a chance who are escaping circumstances none of us can really comprehend," Ms Berry said.

"We'll work it out. We've done it before and we'll work with the organisations who have the expertise to support these people."

But Ms Berry also urged the Federal Government not to discriminate about which people it accepts.

"Seriously I think that would be a really tragic decision for the Federal Government to make if they were to base it on a person's religion or the way they look," she said.

The Government is also expected to announce more funding for refugee agencies.

Ms Plibersek is arguing for an extra $100 million.

"We believe the UNHCR needs a very substantial extra amount of funding but we are of course open to other organisations receiving some of that funding. We know that organisations like UNICEF, the World Food program, the Red Cross, the Red Crescent and others are doing very important work in Syria as well," she said.

The Government is also set to extend military action over the Syrian border, targeting IS supply lines and military bases.

But, unlike in Iraq, Syria's Government has not asked for Australia's involvement in its country, making the bombing raids legally questionable.

The Government justifies the move across the border using the principle of collective self-defence.

But Labor is insisting on a more thorough Government explanation for the Syrian expansion before it will give its backing to the move.

Australia's refugee intake compared with the rest of the world. ( ABC Fact Check )