'Criminals for hire' tied to anti-Semitic attack spree in Aus

Federal authorities believe "criminals for hire" could be responsible for a spate of escalating anti-Semitic attacks as police investigate the possibility overseas paymasters are pulling their strings.

Australian Federal Police commissioner Reece Kershaw today revealed investigators were looking into who could be paying local gang members to commit the crimes.

His latest comments build on a statement a day earlier, which first disclosed police were looking into whether "overseas actors or individuals" had been funding the targeting of Jewish communities.

Cars have been set alight, a synagogue burnt down and anti-Semitic slurs painted on buildings and cars in attacks that have escalated in frequency and severity since December.

In the latest incident, a Sydney childcare centre near a synagogue was badly damaged on Tuesday when it was targeted in an early morning arson and graffiti attack.

"We believe criminals for hire may be behind some incidents, so part of our inquiries include who is paying those criminals, where those people are, whether they are in Australia or offshore, and what their motivation is," Kershaw said.

"There is still a lot of investigative work to be done and we are not ready to rule anything in or out."

Officials are yet to reveal any details of who could be ultimately behind the attacks or their motivations, although police are also investigating the possibility that well-resourced organised criminals rather than state actors or known extremist groups are involved.

Encrypted communication has been used in many instances, making it difficult for investigators to trace chains of command.

NSW Police today charged a 33-year-old man over his alleged role in the spray-painting of swastikas and an attempted arson attack upon a Sydney synagogue on January 11.

Commissioner Karen Webb flagged a second arrest was imminent over the attack in inner-city Newtown, but she would not be drawn on specifics when asked if foreign interference was a factor.

"What we deal with is fact ... the evidence of motive is not clearly established," she said.

"While we have people before the court, the matters are still ongoing and still under investigation, we can't rule out anything, and we need to keep an open mind."

The latest charges marked the ninth arrest by a NSW strike force set up to investigate anti-Semitic crimes.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese earlier rebuffed calls to release more detail on the claims that foreign actors could be involved because it might compromise police investigations.

"It would appear ... some of these are being perpetrated by people who don't have a particular issue, aren't motivated by an ideology, but are paid actors," he told reporters.

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton continued calls for the prime minister to reveal more information on the possible motivation for the attacks, including when he became aware of the allegations of overseas influence.

"Are these state actors or organised crime groups, or are they anti-Semitic groups?" he said.

"It shines a spotlight on the fact the government should have deployed resources much earlier to what is a rolling series of terrorist incidents in our country."

NSW Premier Chris Minns, who took part in yesterday's national cabinet meeting to tackle the anti-Semitism crisis, said some "sophisticated actors" were involved in the incidents.

"It's important people don't read or extrapolate from what I've said, other than to say, in some cases, sophisticated tactics have been used," he said.

Webb said investigators had found "very strong leads" into yesterday's childcare centre incident, while they were also making progress on another synagogue attack in southern Sydney.

Political leaders have agreed to establish a national database to track anti-Semitic incidents and reaffirmed their commitment to stamping out the hate crimes.