Mr Dutton, who has returned from visiting refugee camps in Jordan, told the ABC's Insiders program "more assistance" for Syrians would be needed because "the situation is going to deteriorate".

One of Tony Abbott's last acts as prime minister in September was to announce Australia would permanently resettle 12,000 refugees from Syria.

Mr Abbott said that women, children and families from persecuted minorities who were sheltering in Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey would take priority.

He also announced $44 million to supply refugees in the Middle East with cash, food, water and blankets.

While the Coalition had previously suggested that it could provide more support, Mr Dutton reaffirmed the government's open mind on the subject after his trip to Jordan, where he witnessed the plight of refugees.

He said 4.2 million people had left Syria and 7 million were internally displaced in the country and "it's a situation getting worse".

However, he said Australia needed to "demonstrate" it could bring the first group into the country without any issues.

Mr Dutton cautioned that "there are a lot of people running round with fraudulent documents pretending to be Syrians".

"I think if we can demonstrate that we can get the security and health checks right and that we're bringing the right people, . . . [then] I think people will have confidence in the program perhaps at some point extending, depending on the circumstance in Syria," he said.

The Immigration Minister added there was a "bidding war" between states and territories in Australia over how many Syrian refugees they would receive.

"That's a great thing. I think people recognise that we have the capacity to help those who are genuinely in need."

Mr Dutton also continued to insist Australian officials did not break the law after a recent Amnesty International report that claimed government employees paid people smugglers to return a boat of asylum seekers to Indonesia and committed a transnational crime in doing so.

He specified that Border Force officers had "acted within the law" and there was no evidence in the report of "illegal action".

Insiders host Barrie Cassidy pressed Mr Dutton that he was "simply arguing [payments are] not against the law" rather than arguing Australia did not pay people smugglers.

Mr Dutton replied that he would not have his word "framed".

"I'm putting to you that the government operates within the law; we've done that consistently in relation to Operation Sovereign Borders."

In June, Fairfax Media revealed Indonesian police had found Australian officials paid people smugglers to return a boat that was headed for New Zealand.

At the time, Mr Abbott refused to comment on whether Australia had made the payments.

He said the government had stopped asylum seeker boats "by hook or by crook".