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Police in the state of New South Wales (NSW) said on Saturday that officers were called to reports of gunshots being fired into the first home in Croydon Park, 10 km west of central Sydney, around 8 p.m. on Friday.

One man, three women and two children were inside the premises at the time but there were no reported injuries.

Officers were told that a man was seen on foot firing two shots from a pistol into the home before entering a nearby vehicle and fleeing the scene. Police believe the incident was targeted, Xinhua news agency reported.

Hours later, emergency services were deployed to reports of shots being fired into a unit in Prairiewood, 28 km west of central Sydney, around 11:25 p.m. An 80-year-old female occupant was uninjured.

A police statement said that the second incident is believed to be a case of mistaken identity and that there is no evidence to suggest it was linked to the earlier shooting.

Crime scenes were established at both locations and separate investigations into the two shootings have commenced.

Earlier on July 25, a French tourist was hospitalised with life-threatening injuries after being stabbed while trying to break up a fight in the Australian city of Brisbane.

Emergency services said that the man was found by ambulance paramedics with significant stab wounds to his chest in Fortitude Valley, a popular nightlife area in central Brisbane, shortly after 3:30 a.m. on Friday.

He was treated at the scene before being taken to the hospital in a life-threatening condition.

Local media identified the victim as a French tourist.

A witness and friend of the victim told Seven Network television that he had intervened to stop a fight between two other people when he was attacked.

"Two people were fighting, and he was right in the middle and he got stabbed, I think, three times and he started bleeding," he said.

Police attended the scene and arrested two people, with an investigation into the incident ongoing.

- IANS