Siege police names 'must be protected'

The identities of tactical and counter-terrorism police officers involved in the Sydney Lindt Cafe siege must be protected to prevent them being targeted by would-be terrorists, an inquest has heard.

As lawyers for families, police and others involved in the Sydney siege scramble to be ready for the resumption of the inquest, a hearing on Tuesday heard the identities of specialist officers who handled the December 2014 siege will remain secret.

Barrister Peter Singleton, acting for the Commonwealth, told the hearing the names of Australian Federal Police officers involved in tactical, counter-terrorist and covert operations must not be disclosed because they "would be prime targets of would-be terrorists".

Mr Singleton said the inquest would be monitored by would-be terrorists "to glean methodological secrets" of how police operated.

Officers involved in handling and ending the siege are among those who will give evidence when the siege inquest resumes on March 21 for a detailed, eight-week probe into the handling of the 17-hour stand-off.

Tuesday's hearing also revealed that lawyers for the families of victims of the siege are still waiting to see hours of CCTV and other footage less than a week before critical hearings.

Barrister for the family of slain Lindt Cafe manager Tori Johnson, Peggy Dwyer SC, said she was still waiting for footage that would be needed before she could question witnesses.

"Some of the material was publicly available and we just can't understand what the delay is," Dr Dwyer said.

The massive brief of evidence includes 57 hours of video footage in 104 video files, statements from police and tactical officers involved in the siege, and highly confidential police action plans.

Some of the videos are "walk-throughs" of the siege scene conducted by investigators and include those done by survivors Louisa Hope and Jarrod Morton-Hoffman.

All parties have indicated agreement on not publishing the names of NSW, Queensland and Australian federal police involved in the December 2014 siege, in which lawyer Katrina Dawson also lost her life.

However, lawyers for the Dawson and Johnson families are yet to reach final agreement with representatives of police and the Commonwealth on which evidence should be suppressed and which should be made public.

Public interest immunity claims have also been lodged to prevent publication of the confidential statements of senior police, including that of AFP assistant commissioner and counter-terrorism manager Neil Gaughan.

The Sydney siege began when gunman Man Haron Monis entered the central Sydney Lindt Cafe on the morning of December 15, 2014, and took 18 people hostage.

Monis was killed when tactical police stormed the cafe in the early hours of December 16.