Assistant police commissioner Stephen Nutt said the woman had been covertly gathering information on the Guan Yin Citta Buddhist association in Australia's capital, Canberra.

Nutt said she was working under the command of China's Public Security Bureau, the country's main domestic law enforcement body.

"We allege the activitiy was to support the intelligence objectives of China's Public Security Bureau," said Nutt, from the special investigations division of the Australian Federal Police.

The woman was arrested and charged with "reckless foreign interference" after police raided a number of houses in Canberra over the weekend.

"During the searches, a number of items, including electronic devices, were seized and will undergo forensic examination," police said in a statement.

Reckless foreign interference carries a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison.