'I don't want to generate concern but we are aware, from consulting with the school communities, that there are security issues that some schools face,' said Education Minister Julia Gillard.

The government would provide A$20 million dollars (S$25.7 million) for security measures such as closed circuit television cameras or 24-hour security patrols.

Priority would be given to schools with security risks identified by the national intelligence agency and the federal police, Mr Gillard said.

The plan has received support from both the Australian Jewish and Muslim communities.

Jewish schools already regularly checked school buses for bombs and many needed extra security because of frequent threats against the Jewish community, said Executive Council of Australian Jewry president Robert Goot.

'It's costing a lot of money. Across Australia, it's many millions of dollars annually,' he told The Australian newspaper.

Islamic schools also needed extra protection, said the president of the Australian Federation of Islamic Councils, Mr Ikebal Patel.

'There is certainly a need for security at all our schools, and especially so during times at heightened tension, and we feel there is a need for extra vigilance for the safety of our children,' he said.

News of the funding move comes as a far-right political party is threatening to hold a protest rally opposing a 1,200-pupil Islamic school opening on Sydney's south-western fringe.

The protest has been planned by Australia First, which has been blamed for helping fuel Sydney's infamous Cronulla race riots in December 2005 in which white mobs attacked Lebanese Australians, local media reported.

The planned school has already sparked a 1,000-strong community protest. In in November two pigs' heads were rammed onto metal stakes with an Australian flag draped between them on the proposed site.

Inflammatory text messages were also reportedly circulated, prompting Muslim and Christian groups to last month warn against a repeat of Cronulla-style race riots. -- AFP