Australian Federal Police acting commissioner Neil Gaughan has left the door open to pursuing charges over the leaked sensitive information.

Addressing journalists in Canberra on Thursday, Mr Gaughan suggested a crime had been committed by publishing the classified documents.

"I'm not going to rule in or rule out anyone subject to further charges," he told reporters.

Officers raided the ABC's Sydney headquarters on Wednesday over stories published in 2017 that suggested Australian troops may have committed war crimes.

The raid came a day after the Canberra home of a News Corp journalist was searched over a 2018 story detailing a government proposal to spy on Australians.

Mr Gaughan insisted the AFP's "independent and impartial" investigations were at arm's length from government.

"I need to emphasise in the strongest possible terms that not the government nor any minister has directed the actions of these investigations," he said.

Mr Gaughan confirmed the AFP notified the government more than a year ago that they were investigating the leaks, but denied his officers ever provided updates on developments.

"We did not provide regular updates on operational activities, nor did we tell them we have obtained search warrants and planned to execute these warrants," he said.

Mr Gaughan said the searches were conducted as part of an investigation into alleged breaches of the Crimes Act that covered not just the leaking of the information, but also the publication of the material.

He said it could be a crime to publish the leaked documents, but noted there may be public interest exemptions under federal law.

Pressed on whether he would pursue charges against media organisations, he replied: "We have not made a decision."

Mr Gaughan rejected suggestions the back-to-back raids were a show of force used to intimidate journalists and whistleblowers, arguing the timing boiled down to resources.

He also left the door open to carrying out further raids.

"I'm not going to give a blow-by-blow description as to where the investigation is at," he said.

"The investigation is complex and ongoing. Potentially we may do more search warrants."

Labor's home affairs spokeswoman Kristina Keneally said many people saw the raids as "the first steps down a slippery slope" to losing a free press in Australia.

Labor has asked for a briefing and will see if a Senate inquiry is possible.

The raids have attracted global condemnation, as well as outrage from Australian media organisations and free speech proponents.

"This police raid against our partners at ABC is an attack on press freedom which we at the BBC find deeply troubling," the BBC said in a statement.

"At a time when the media is becoming less free across the world, it is highly worrying if a public broadcaster is being targeted for doing its job of reporting in the public interest."

Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton insist they had no involvement with the police raids.

"I can understand, particularly for the journalists involved, this would have been very upsetting and a very anxious and concerning event, of course it would be," Mr Morrison told reporters in the UK.

"My government is absolutely committed to freedom of the press."

Former Defence lawyer David McBride, who allegedly leaked the documents to the ABC, is facing court over the matter.

"I'm going to argue it was my duty to release the documents," he told The Australian.

Australian Associated Press