Many refugees in Australia were granted asylum due to their association with a group that is oppressed in their home nation.
Some of these groups, such as the Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka and the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in Turkey, are among those now listed by the federal government as terrorist groups.
The president of Liberty Victoria, Brian Walters, says any refugees associated with such groups could be prosecuted.
"This kind of approach is the same kind of approach that led to the failed attempt to ban the Communist party in the early 1950s at the height of the Cold War, an attempt that was held to be unconstitutional and which then failed a very controversial referendum.
"And yet here we are at the stroke of a pen listing organisations without proper consultation and without any real consideration about how this affects Australia."