Prime Minister pledges visa crackdown, targets 'hate preachers' in wake of Bondi massacre

Opposition Leader Sussan Ley has demanded the prime minister recall federal parliament "before Christmas" to urgently pass new legislation.

Under mounting pressure from Jewish leaders and the opposition to address rising anti-Semitism in Australia, Mr Albanese announced reforms to clamp down on "those who spread hate, division and radicalisation" on Thursday.

Changes include increased penalties for hate speech promoting violence, aggravated hate speech offence for preachers and leaders who promote violence, and making hate an aggravating factor in sentencing crimes for online threats and harassment.

Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke will be granted new powers to cancel or reject visas for those who spread hate and division.

"We have seen a series of appalling attacks targeting Australia's Jewish community," Mr Albanese told reporters in Canberra.

"That culminated on Sunday in one of the worst acts of mass murder that this country has ever seen."

David Gonski will lead a 12-month taskforce to ensure the Australian education system prevents and responds to anti-Semitism in universities.

The government will continue to work through recommendations put forward in Special Envoy Jillian Segal's report, which was handed to the government in July.

Mr Albanese announced a series of additional policy announcements following a meeting of the National Security Committee four days after the Bondi massacre.

A funeral service was held in Sydney today for the youngest of the shooting victims, 10-year-old Matilda.

Former Liberal treasurer Josh Frydenberg has called on Mr Albanese to "take personal responsibility" for the shooting, which claimed the lives of 15 innocent people on Sunday.

Pressed about whether more could have been done earlier to prevent the attack, Mr Albanese conceded that "of course more could have always been done".

"Governments aren't perfect. I'm not perfect," he said.

"My heart goes out to what is a community that are suffering, that have been targeted."

In addition to new legislative reforms, the government announced disaster relief payments for those affected by the Bondi attack and flagged further action on gun control.

AFP Commissioner Krissy Barrett provided an update on the investigation and reaffirmed earlier remarks about the alleged shooters' motivation, arguing that it was not a question of religion but rather extremism.

"This was about extremism. This was ISIS-inspired. We know ISIS distorts and corrupts Islam, which leads to radicalisation," she said.

"The point I was making is that these two [alleged shooters] we know were inspired by ISIS in terms of radicalisation."

Terrorism suspect Naveed Akram, 24, was charged with the murder of 15 people and committing a terrorist act on Wednesday afternoon. His father Sajid Akram, 50, was killed by police at the scene on Sunday.

The Prime Minister did not rule out the prospect of recalling Parliament over summer to pass new hate speech laws, but said the changes were complex and could take time to draft.

He rebuffed suggestions that security agencies were not properly resourced after it emerged that one of the gunmen was interviewed by ASIO in 2019 over his alleged ties to Islamic extremists.

"ASIO has never had more funding than they have today under my government," Mr Albanese said.

Speaking later on Thursday afternoon, Ms Ley accused Mr Albanese of "failing to listen to the Jewish community" and announced a raft of counter measures aimed at strengthening counter-terrorism laws.

This included passing legislation to give full effect to the Special Envoy's plan and making the envoy "a statutory office empowered by its own act."

Key recommendations from Ms Segal's report include granting the Home Affairs Minister visa-refusal powers for anti-Semitic behaviour and stripping funding from universities that fail to respond to anti-Semitism.

The Opposition will also pursue more funding to address chronic workforce shortages in the AFP and the Counter-Terrorism Coordination Centre.

Opposition Home Affairs spokesman, Jonno Duniam, said intelligence and law enforcement agencies were at "breaking point" due chronic understaffing and a lack of proper funding.

"These agencies are filled with fine men and women committed to a strong and safe future in this country, but they're not supported by a government that sees fit to fund them appropriately," he said.