Offenders who have been convicted of terrorism charges could remain in jail after they have served their sentence, under new laws to be proposed by the federal government on Friday.
The issue of post-sentence preventative detention for convicted terrorists will be raised during Friday’s Council of Australian Governments (Coag) meeting, after the prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull, added it to the agenda.
Several states and territories, including New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia, have laws that allow for sexual offenders and other violent criminals to remain in prison after they have served their sentence if there is a high risk that they will reoffend.
Likewise, short-term preventative orders are in place now and can be used by law enforcement agencies to stop what they believe is an imminent attack, but they are only applied before a conviction has occurred.
No legislation applies for criminals who have already been convicted of terrorism offences.
The new powers would apply to Australian citizens who would otherwise have to be released into the community after serving terrorism-related sentences, regardless of whether authorities deem them a risk.
Turnbull had flagged that anti-terrorism and deradicalisation laws would feature on the Coag agenda when he gave a speech on national security to the House of Representatives last month.
“I will be meeting with my state and territory colleagues next month. Cooperation between all tiers of government and state and federal agencies is vital in the counter-terrorism effort,” he said in November. “At Coag on 11 December, I will continue our discussions with premiers on how to best counter violent extremism. I will raise with them initiatives under consideration to address the problem of radicalisation in prisons.”
The new proposal is designed to bolster the federal government’s anti-terror response. Its fifth tranche of national security laws, which were introduced into parliament before it rose for summer break, included provisions to lower the age at which police control orders could apply from 16 to 14.
Control orders restrict movement of people who have been accused of terrorism offences and limit their contact with certain individuals. They are used sparsely, with only one applied in the last eight years.
Control orders apply to people before they are convicted, and therefore differ from the preventative orders proposed on Friday.
Earlier this month both houses of parliament passed legislation that would strip dual nationals of their Australian citizenship if they were convicted of terror-related offences in Australia or involved in terror activity overseas.
A number of last-minute amendments were made to the legislation to help it withstand any future judicial challenge from the high court.
About 145 passports have been cancelled to prevent Australians going abroad to fight for terrorist organisations, the immigration minister, Peter Dutton, said.
“If people go there [to the Middle East], there’s a consequence to pay, regardless of whether they’re fighting for the right side or the wrong side. That’s the Australian law and people need to face up to it,” Dutton told Macquarie Radio on Thursday.
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