Siege inquest hears ASIO 'had information to act on Monis'

Multiple calls and emails were made about Man Haron Monis to the National Security Hotline six days before he took people hostage in the Lindt Cafe siege but ASIO decided he posed no security threat, an inquest has heard.

Eighteen calls and emails were made to the hotline on December 9, 2014, about offensive posts on Monis's Facebook page.

Counsel assisting the inquest Jeremy Gormly said all the alerts were referred to ASIO and the Australian Federal Police and it was "a question for consideration as to whether there was sufficient notice to authorities".

"What I'm asserting there is there was sufficient notice to assess and act upon it," he said.

ASIO did assess the posts and decided they did not indicate Monis wanted to engage in terrorism or politically-motivated violence, Mr Gormly said.

Today marked the beginning of the third of four sessions of the inquest.

Only the opening remarks of the session were made public. Subsequent hearings will be conducted behind closed doors for security reasons.

The findings of the inquest are expected to be handed down next year.