Commissioner Andrew Colvin has confirmed the Australian Federal Police approached the federal government for controversial new powers to demand identification at airports.
Mr Colvin believes restrictions placed on AFP officers at airports are too onerous, and are posing a security risk.
He said officers were not always able to meet the threshold for a holding a "reasonable suspicion" of a serious crime, enabling them to request a person's identification.
"We believe this is a gap in our security at airports and as such we've been speaking to government about what measures might be reasonably brought in to address that gap," Mr Colvin told a Senate committee on Wednesday.
Mr Colvin said airports were unique environments and while the proposed powers were not unprecedented, he accepted they were unusual.
"I'd rather prevent something happening than react to it," he said.
"This is about layers of security.
"This is another layer, another tool on a police officer's belt."
Asked about what would happen to those who did not carry ID at airports, the commissioner echoed earlier statements from Home Affairs secretary Michael Pezzullo, saying it would depend on the legislation.
Crossbench senator Derryn Hinch asked how AFP staff would be trained to avoid racial profiling akin to recent high profile cases in the United States.
"There is a world of difference between (the) Australian law enforcement environment and what we see in the US," Mr Colvin said.
"I would be very surprised and disappointed to see that type of behaviour in Australia, but all our officers are trained to act on behaviour, not act on race, religion or profile in any way."
Mr Colvin said the force had only received one complaint about "profiling" in the past two years.
Mr Pezzullo, meanwhile, said airport security was at the "top of the list" for the federal government, given their vulnerability to terrorist attacks.
"They're by far the areas that require the most urgent attention," he said.
However, Greens senator Nick McKim described the proposed airport ID powers as "a step too far down the road to authoritarianism".
