Syrians accepted into Australia will not congregate in ethnic ghettos and will likely be housed across the country including in regional towns, the Turnbull government says.
The message comes as officials wrestle with how to disperse the 12,000 refugees due to arrive within weeks. 
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and other government officials met the Refugee Resettlement Advisory Council in Canberra on Thursday to discuss the details of helping the refugees put down new roots in Australia, including the geographical split.
Fairfax Media has reported NSW and Victoria were prepared to take at least 4000 refugees each and Liberal elder Philip Ruddock has cautioned against "ghettoing" of thousands of Syrians.
News Corp on Thursday suggested 7000 could be housed in western Sydney alone.
The ABC reported Mr Ruddock said the process of deciding where refugees would be resettled was "very complex" and should be based on where support services were available.
"Sometimes you need to think about where communities already exist because they can be very important in supporting those who are coming," Mr Ruddock reportedly said. "I don't think it's desirable to have people ghettoing, if I can use that term, so distribution of populations is important."
Social Services parliamentary secretary Concetta Fierravanti-Wells said suggestions that ghettos would be created were "unfounded" and Australia's humanitarian settlement services were a "well oiled machine ... we've been doing this well for a very, very long time".
Senator Fierravanti-Wells said refugees, many of whom had suffered trauma, often preferred to be housed "where [their] families are, where ... there may be people that come from the same village".
"Many of the persecuted minorities that we are talking about have linkages in metropolitan Sydney and metropolitan Melbourne [and] in other areas as well," Senator Fierravanti-Wells said, adding many later moved in pursuit of job opportunities, including to regional areas.
In Parliament on Thursday, Immigration Minister Peter Dutton refused to discuss his future following reports he offered his resignation to Mr Turnbull after vocally supporting Tony Abbott before Monday's leadership ballot.