PM hosts refugee resettlement talks

Prime Minister Tony Abbott has begun discussions about resettling 12,000 refugees from the conflict in Syria and Iraq.

Representatives from resettlement agencies and community groups are in Canberra for talks.

"This is the kind of thing that Australia has done before, although obviously it is on unprecedented scale," Mr Abbott told the meeting at Parliament House.

Immigration Minister Peter Dutton and Social Services Minister Scott Morrison are also taking part in the discussions.

Mr Abbott paid tribute to community groups that had offered to help with resettlement, saying it was easier for the government to make its one-off intake decision knowing there were people rallying to help.

The intake would focus on persecuted minorities, women, children, and families because "they are the most vulnerable people in a conflict such as this".

Refugee advocate Paris Aristotle told the meeting the government's decision was "an incredibly powerful humanitarian gesture".

"It's an extraordinary thing to think that there will be 12,000 people whose lives will be literally saved from a miserable set of circumstances that are not of their making," he said.

Mr Aristotle said Australia's resettlement services were second to none in the world.