Infectious diseases experts say moves by the federal government to strengthen national security laws have failed to take into account the threat from a biological terror event, leaving Australia vulnerable to a major attack.
University of NSW Professor of Infectious Diseases Epidemiology Raina MacIntyre has warned the ease of obtaining methods over the internet for engineering new viruses means there is a real risk of a deadly disease being deliberately released.
The release of a virus such as smallpox at a major public event, for example, would have the potential to cause serious illness and death.
Prof MacIntyre says training, legislation and policies - internationally and locally - have struggled to keep pace with the unprecedented challenges posed by advances in science, leaving populations vulnerable to an attack.
The recent changes to counter-terrorism laws focus more on foreign incursions and control orders and less on bioterrorism, which is arguably just as important, she said.
"Current legal frameworks mean it can take years to prosecute a rogue scientist doing unauthorised experiments, but smallpox or pandemic influenza can spread around the world in weeks," Prof MacIntyre said. "Our laws need to be revised to protect the public interest.
"The possibility that terrorists may have genetically engineered a hybrid of one of these traditional pathogens cannot be discounted and is something that we need to be better prepared for."
Tom Ridge, who was secretary of homeland security in the Unites States following the September 11 attacks in 2001, warned last week that groups such as Islamic State had endorsed biological warfare.
He warned the United States, which spends billions of dollars a year in attempting to mitigate the threat, was still underprepared to confront a biological attack.
"Each day, we face the possibility of an infectious disease outbreak, an intentional bioterror attack, or an accidental release of a pathogen from a research facility," he said.
Prof MacIntyre said despite the real possibility of a bioterrorist attack, the world remained ill-equipped to deal with the threat because the approach to tackling the issue had remained largely unchanged since the Cold War.
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