Federal Justice Minister Michael Keenan announced 54 Australian schools would take part in the Schools Security Programme which "recognises the unique security circumstances that some schools unfortunately face".

Canberra Grammar applied for the funding to install security cameras on campus following a lock-down last year.

In March, ACT Police ordered that Grammar, Red Hill Primary and St Edmund's College be locked down after receiving a report of a man with a firearm in the vicinity. The call was later investigated to be a hoax.

Students at the three schools were kept in their classrooms for up to an hour and told to stay away from windows and doors as police searched the area.

While the school was awaiting formal confirmation from the Commonwealth of its success in obtaining funding, a spokesman said the lock-down had illustrated how difficult it was to monitor any serious situations on "such a large and spread out campus containing 1750 students".

The funding application was not related to any issue regarding religious or racial intolerance, the spokesman said.

The federal money can be used to employ security guards, or install security infrastructure such as closed-circuit television cameras, security lighting or fencing – depending on the needs of the school.

Yet state and territory education ministers – including the ACT's Joy Burch – were caught off guard by the announcement on Monday, and not informed of which schools had been given the go-ahead for funding.

Meanwhile, Canberra's newest Jewish pre-school and day care centre, Gan Yisroel, was considering applying for future funding in order to ensure children were protected from ever becoming "soft targets".

Ms Burch said she would "always welcome any appropriate investment from the Commonwealth across our schools and I look forward to further conversations with the federal government concerning the detail of today's announcement".

Queensland Education Minister Kate Jones questioned why Mr Keenan released the information through the media rather than contacting the state government or independent schools associations.

Mr Keenan's office said it received 98 applications, and of these, 54 were selected on merit following an assessment of their applications against the criteria.

Of the $18 million, $1,931,500 was allocated to 11 government schools across the country, $7,569,100 was allocated to 17 Jewish schools, $4,439,800, was allocated to 15 Islamic schools and $2,706,200 was allocated to 11 independent schools.

The Canberra Times contacted the Canberra's two Islamic schools, the Islamic School of Canberra in Weston, and the At Taqwa School in Spence, as well as its two Jewish schools, the ACT Jewish Community's Cheder in Forrest, and the Gan Yisroel Community and Childcare Centre in Giralang. None had applied for funding, according to their representatives.

But Gan Yisroel's Rabbi Shmueli Feldman said that he would discuss the Commonwealth's strategy as a management meeting this week as "you can never be too complacent when it comes to protecting children."

The childcare centre and preschool had attracted nearly 40 enrolments, and Rabbi Feldman said it was "realistic" to consider improving aspects of security.

"Unfortunately these are the times we are in and in accordances with real threats, such as what has happened in Sydney (in the Martin Place siege) and overseas … Schools are an easy, soft target."

"We pray there is no need to be prepared but there is a very real threat," he said.