States and territories should enact laws to keep convicted terrorists locked up if it's believed they may commit another terror-related crime, Attorney-General George Brandis says.
The proposal was put to first ministers by Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull at this week's COAG meeting.
Speaking in London on Friday after counter-terrorism talks with British ministers and officials, Senator Brandis said it was not merely a crime-and-punishment situation.
"Some people by reason of disposition, by reason of ideology, by reason of their inability to think or behave in any other way, are going to present a threat to the community even after they have served a term of imprisonment," Senator Brandis said.
"The only way to keep the community safe is to keep them off the streets."
Senator Brandis said some states already had similar legislation in relation to convicted pedophiles deemed to be at risk of re-offending upon release from prison, and those laws had been upheld in the High Court.
He said such a measure for convicted terrorists would be judicially supervised and would be best enacted through the state and territory prison systems.
"I expect that in a collaborative way, led by the Commonwealth, the state and territory ministers will get behind this scheme and pass legislation in their own parliaments to enable that to be done."
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