Children as young as 14 could be subject to counter-terrorism control orders and convicted high-risk terrorist offenders kept in jail past their prison sentences under changes to terror laws introduced to parliament.
Attorney-General George Brandis said regrettably children as young as 14 had been involved in terrorist-related activity and the change recognised that reality.
He told senators on Thursday 48 people had been charged from 19 counter-terror operations around Australia and the government's job was to manage those who continued to pose an unacceptable risk after they were released from prison.
The legislation comes from the previous parliament which was unable to pass them before an election was called.
Senator Brandis said the two important measures would ensure laws were as strong and up-to-date as possible, enabling police and intelligence agencies to fight terrorism and keep the community safe.
The draft laws aim to:
* Reduce the age a person of security concern can be subject to a control order from 16 to 14.
* Create a new search, telecommunications interception and surveillance regime for those under control orders.
* Make advocating genocide illegal.
* Allow the attorney-general to apply to a state or territory Supreme Court to keep an offender in jail.
* Set a bar for the court, making sure it was satisfied the offender presented an unacceptably high risk of committing a terrorism offence if released.
Senator Brandis said most states and territories had post-sentence preventative detention schemes for high-risk sex or violent offenders.
"But until now, there has been no such scheme for convicted terrorist offenders," he told parliament.
