Venue operators of crowded public places and architects of new buildings are being urged to have security top of mind under a new plan revealed by Malcolm Turnbull.
The prime minister's new national security program has been in the planning for a year but comes after the latest attack in Barcelona, in which a vehicle was once again used to mow down innocent people in a crowded area.
"It is part of our continuous program of optimising, improving the way we can keep Australians safe," Mr Turnbull told reporters in Sydney on Sunday.
He said Australia had the best security agencies in the world.
"But we recognise that the threat is constantly evolving, so what we have to do is to make sure we too are constantly improving and updating the measures we have."
States and territories have been involved in developing the plan.
Venue owners and operators will be given government and police help for security audits of their facilities to determine any weaknesses and develop strategies to strengthen and fortify such places.
There will be a greater use of permanent bollards - like in Sydney's busy Pitt Street shopping precinct - to separate vehicles from pedestrians and more use of police and security agencies around mass gatherings.
Under the new plan - Australia's Strategy For Protecting Crowded Places From Terrorism which has been under development since the Nice attack in July 2016 - new buildings will have to undertake security measures.
"The best mitigations are done at the design stage," Mr Turnbull said.
"You can't proof every site 100 per cent - there are certainly things that can be done to existing sites - but the most important thing is as you get new developments, new plans that security measures are put in place at that time."
