The Prime Minister has described message encryption as a vital piece of security for every user of the internet, whether they are shopping, banking or chatting online.
But Malcolm Turnbull says encrypted messaging is also used by criminals and terrorists.
The Coalition government wants laws changed so that technology and social media companies are forced to help security agencies decrypt protected information.
Mr Turnbull told parliament it will be a subject of upcoming discussion among members of the so-called 'Five Eyes'* intelligence-sharing coalition.
*The Five Eyes coalition comprises the United States, Britain, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
Encryption technology scrambles information sent online into a code using an algorithm.
That means it can be intercepted but not deciphered on the way to its destination.
Only the intended recipient has the algorithm, or key, to unscramble or decrypt the original data.
End-to-end encryption means not even the server, operated by providers such as WhatsApp or Facebook, can decrypt it.
Even if a technology company wanted to do so, the data cannot be unscrambled and passed on to authorities.
Chris Gatford is the director of HackLabs, a Sydney-based company that performs internet security tests for clients around the world.
He says if firms are required to alter their encryption software to generate so-called 'backdoor access' it could mean data ends up in the wrong hands.
The Prime Minister has denied his government is considering the option, saying it would rather establish better cooperation with telecommunications and internet companies.
Chris Duckett is a technology journalist and editor of the website, ZDNet Australia.
He says enabling so-called 'backdoor access' could leave even government infrastructure vulnerable.
Jon Lawrence, from the non-for-profit advocacy group Electronic Frontiers Australia, is concerned changes to encryption technology could benefit those trying to access data illegally.
Nigel Phair worked with the Australian Federal Police for 21 years, including four years as head of investigations for the High Tech Crime Centre.
He is now with Canberra University's Centre for Internet Safety, and says authorities have many surveillance tools in their arsenal without having to target encryption.
"Metadata is the first one. It's really powerful and very easy to use, and provides a lot of rich data. There are things like physical surveillance, electronic surveillance and there's also eavesdropping on normal communication. Then we start going down to social media feeds and all the other things that people are doing out there. This gives a really good picture of the sorts of people that are out there and the sorts of that things they are doing "
