The human rights commissioner is urging parliament to exempt children from proposed counter-terrorism laws that could see them spend longer in prison
Federal parliament's intelligence and security committee is reviewing the proposed legislation, which would require the court to fix a non-parole period of at least three quarters of the sentence imposed for a terrorism offence.
Parts of the proposed counter-terrorism laws are in response to a report into the prosecution and sentencing of children for terrorism offences.
Human rights commissioner Edward Santow says the legislation is problematic as it tells the courts to give greater weight to protecting the community over the best interests of the child involved.
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