Agencies let down community with Monis: PM

The community was let down by officials in their dealings with Sydney siege "monster" Man Haron Monis, Prime Minister Tony Abbott and NSW Premier Mike Baird say.

The pair released the joint federal-NSW inquiry report into the terror attack last year, with Mr Abbott saying governments needed to learn lessons from the siege.

Bodies such as ASIO, Immigration, Police and Centrelink had repeatedly assessed that at no stage was he a danger to himself or the community, the prime minister told reporters in Sydney.

The report found the interactions of various government agencies with Monis were "justifiable under the circumstances", he said.

"But plainly, in their totality, the system has let us down," Mr Abbott said.

"Plainly, this monster should not have been in our community. He shouldn't have been allowed into the country. He shouldn't have been out on bail. He shouldn't have been with a gun and he shouldn't have become radicalised."

Mr Abbott said that at every stage Monis had been given the benefit of the doubt.

"The cumulative effect of the benefit of the doubt being given to him time and time again is that he was able to wreak havoc on our community," the prime minister said.

Hostages Katrina Dawson and Tori Johnson died when the 17-hour siege came to an end at the Lindt cafe in central Sydney on December 16.

Monis, who had taken 18 people hostage, was shot dead when police stormed the cafe, ending the crisis.

Questions remain about why Monis was out on bail at the time of the siege, despite facing 40 sexual and indecent assault charges, and why he was granted political asylum after fleeing Iran in 1996.

Ahead of his statement on national security on Monday - where he will detail plans to tackle the terror threat in Australia - Mr Abbott said the Sydney cafe siege highlighted a need for more checks and balances in Australia's visa and citizenship processes.

"We do need to renew and redouble our efforts in countering violent extremism, and I'll have a lot about more to say on those subjects tomorrow as part of my national security statement," he said.

Mr Baird said while decisions made by the various agencies were considered reasonable by the review, the system had let the community down.

"The recommendations that have come forward - we need to act and we need to respond and we will be doing exactly that," Mr Baird said.

The report recommends that information about identified terror suspects should be provided as part of any bail conditions, the NSW premier said.

"I have a view it should actually go further," he said.

The report also comments on the need to reduce the number of illegal firearms.

Mr Baird says there are close to 250,000 illegal firearms cross the country.

"We need to look at all options we can to ensure that we reduce the number of illegal firearms across this state and nation," he said.