Prime Minister Tony Abbott has indicated Australia is now likely to take in more refugees from Syria than the current humanitarian cap would allow while also stepping up its military commitment via bombing raids on Islamic State targets and supply lines within that war-torn country.
Among the options is a one-off increase and/or a quicker transition from the current 13,750 annual humanitarian places to the higher 18,750 cap set for the end of the decade. 
Neither the military nor the humanitarian decision has been finalised, with the National Security Committee of cabinet set to sign off on Tuesday on the US-requested mission expansion, and the scale of the refugee response dependent on feedback from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.
Mr Abbott said that when dealing with the terror threat of Islamic State, Australia would act with "decency and force".
The prospect of the Abbott government lifting its aggregate refugee intake had been ruled out in previous days, but the colossal extent of the Syrian crisis, coupled with growing pressure from within the Liberal Party, has seen Mr Abbott shift to a more activist stance.
Immigration Minister Peter Dutton was due to meet with UNHCR officials in Geneva overnight and is expected to report back on Tuesday, clearing the way for the announcement of a potentially dramatic one-off hike in Australia's 13,750 annual intake under its humanitarian program.
Labor has called for that hike to be a 10,000-person increase, and wants a $100 million injection of aid to go with it.
On the two-year anniversary of his election as Prime Minister, Mr Abbott struck an uncommonly bipartisan tone in response, telling the House of Representatives it had a "good spirit and a good heart" and declaring that Australia would not hesitate to meet its international responsibilities.
This would include additional funds for the UNHCR to undertake its growing workload.
"I agree with the Leader of the Opposition that there is an unprecedented crisis. It is, as he said earlier this afternoon, probably the most serious humanitarian crisis that we have seen, the greatest mass movement of people that we have seen since the end of the Second World War and the partition of India.
"I can inform the House that it is the government's firm intention to take a significant number of people from Syria this year. We will give people refuge; that is the firm intention of this government."
Those comments, which have been widely interpreted as signalling an increase above the current cap, came within minutes of Opposition Leader Bill Shorten calling for the extra 10,000.
"Labor believes it isn't good enough for the government or Mr Abbott to simply say that they will take more refugees, but from within the existing level of refugees scheduled to be taken by this country. We are proposing a significant increase because this is a significant crisis," he said.
Government MPs said they were increasingly confident that Cabinet would be bold in addressing the situation, although it was not clear on Monday if the extra places would be permanent residencies or some form of temporary protection or safe-haven visa class.
There were also concerns that the government may look to favour some religious groups, such as Christians, above others such as Muslims.
Several influential Liberals have expressed support for a greater intake in recent days ranging from NSW Premier Mike Baird and Victorian Opposition Leader Matthew Guy to a raft of ministers and backbenchers at the federal level.
One of those, Sydney MP Craig Laundy has been urging his party to do more, arguing, his multicultural western Sydney electorate of Reid would back the plan.
Public support also appears to be high amid scenes of suffering and deaths at sea among the hundreds of thousands of displaced Syrians attempting to reach safety.
THE SYRIAN CRISIS
How Europe is facing the deluge
MIGRANT INTAKE THIS YEAR
Germany 800,000
Finland 30,000
UK 330,000 last year, with ''thousands more'' this year
Europe-wide
Number of asylum applications in last year 662,000
Asylum applications still pending 567,000 (up to   June 2015)
HOW THE COUNTRIES HAVE RESPONDED
Germany
Germany, with few ultra-nationalist anti-immigration exceptions, has been open to taking refugees. On Monday it announced a EUR6 billion ($9.6 billion) aid package.
Finland
Finland has doubled its estimate for the number of asylum seekers in the country this year to up to 30,000, compared with just 3600 last year. Finish Prime Minister Juha Sipila offered his spare house to host a refugee family from 2016.
Austria
Austria was allowing migrants leaving Hungary to pass through its territory on the way to Germany, even though EU rules dictate that refugees must seek asylum in the country of their first arrival. However, on Sunday night, Chancellor Werner Faymann said the decision to suspend border checks was to be revised.
Hungary
Prime Minister Viktor Orban
appears to be opposed to allowing Muslim migrants into his country claiming the crisis threatens Europe's prosperity, identity and ''Christian values''. Hungary did provide buses to take thousands of marchers determined to reach Germany on foot on the weekend.
France
France has had its fair share of Islamist terrorism in recent year, but it hasn't stopped its government allowing refugees from Africa and the Middle East to set up camps within its borders. France agreed to set up a command and control centre with Britain to process refugees in Calais and stop people from risking their lives by stowing away on trains and trucks.
UK
The UK accepted some 330,000 migrants last year, of which 25,000 were refugees. Prime Minister David Cameron has announced Britain will increase its Syrian refugee intake to ''thousands more'', but from camps near the Syrian border, not from the boat and train loads arriving unannounced.
The Vatican
Pope Francis has called on every European parish and religious community to take in one migrant family each in a gesture of solidarity he said would start in the tiny Vatican state.
Italy and Greece
Italy and Greece have bore the brunt of the migrant wave fleeing Libya and Syria by boat. Their ports and systems are overburdened and both countries have asked for EU help to cope. At one point, 3000 people a day were arriving by boat on their shores.