Call for action as Aussie journo hit with rubber bullet

The prime minister needs an urgent explanation from the US president after police shot an Australian TV reporter with a rubber bullet in Los Angeles, a senator says.

Nine Network's US correspondent Lauren Tomasi was recording a piece to camera about protests against immigration raids when she appeared to be struck in the leg, with the incident caught live on camera.

"After hours of standing off, this situation has now rapidly deteriorated, the LAPD moving in on horseback, firing rubber bullets at protesters, moving them on through the heart of LA," Ms Tomasi said.

Seconds later, she was shot with a rubber bullet.

Footage of the incident appeared to show an officer taking aim in the direction of Ms Tomasi and firing.

Greens media and communications spokesperson Sarah Hanson-Young said the shooting was shocking and "must be called out in the strongest terms".

She said the incident must be investigated and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese should call Donald Trump and ask for an urgent explanation or speak to him about when the pair meet in coming days.

"Trump is a threat to journalistic freedom and to democratic values and we cannot afford, as Australians, to sit by and see an attack on those values by US authorities shooting at one of our journalists," senator Hanson-Young said.

"The prime minister needs to be very clear here, Australia is not going to stand by and see our journalists attacked for simply doing their job."

Mr Albanese has yet to speak publicly on the incident.

Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles declined to comment on US immigration policy under Mr Trump, but said he was glad to hear Ms Tomasi was OK.

"At the end of the day, how America operates its own immigration system is really a matter for the United States, and how it manages its own internal law enforcement is a matter for the United States," he told Sky News.

It follows a similar incident in 2020 when Seven Network correspondent Amelia Brace was shot by US police with non-lethal rounds and struck with a truncheon during a Black Lives Matter protest.

Ms Brace and cameraman Tim Myers were in Washington DC's Lafayette Square when officers began aggressively clearing the area before a surprise appearance by Mr Trump.

She later told US Congress she was shot in the legs and backside and Mr Myers was hit in the neck by non-lethal rounds from a police automatic weapon.