Prime Minister Tony Abbott has said people should be required to show their face when entering secure buildings including parliament.
It comes after Palmer United Party Senator Jacqui Lambie indicated she'll introduce a bill to ban the burqa and she is likely to find allies in Coalition senators Cory Bernardi and George Christensen.
"I find it a fairly confronting form of attire. Frankly, I wish it was not worn. But we are a free country," - Tony Abbott
Mr Abbott says he finds the burqa a "confronting" form of attire he wishes wasn't worn by women, but said it's not the business of government to tell people what they should or shouldn't wear.
But he did say people should have to remove face coverings, at times, though on security grounds.
"There can't be one rule for one form of attire and a different rule for another form of attire," he said.
"It's got to be the same rules for everyone and if the rules require you to show your face, well, you show your face."
He said Australia is a free society and it's not the government's job to tell people what they should and shouldn't wear.
"I find it a fairly confronting form of attire. Frankly, I wish it was not worn. But we are a free country," he told reporters in Canberra today.
"It is not good enough to talk tolerance and yet have your backbenchers out there pushing socially divisive arguments." - Bill Shorten
Tony Abbott's comment comes after his chief of staff reportedly told a government backbencher she supports banning the burqa in the building, on security grounds.
Ms Lambie said she'd be pleased to have the support of the Prime Minister's chief of staff, Peta Credlin.
"I think that everybody's starting to get on the band-wagon and not just Peta Credlin," she said.
"This has been now really starting to heat up over the last week and it's something that needs to be discussed and it needs to be debated."
Opposition Leader Bill Shorten says banning the burqa is a "dreadful, divisive" proposition.
"It is not good enough to talk tolerance and yet have your backbenchers out there pushing socially divisive arguments," he said.
Mr Shorten is calling on the Prime Minister to rule it out, saying history will judge him harshly if he doesn't.
"Tony Abbott you're the Prime Minister of Australia. Long after people have forgotten some of the extreme words of the bigots, they will remember the silence of our leaders."
"Australia deserves better than silence from our leaders. He should stamp on this issue today."
Last week Senator Bernardi wrote to the presiding officers of the nation's parliament, calling on them to ban visitors wearing the attire.
"If the parliament does it, it says that banks will do it, anyone else will do it. We will increase the risk of violence towards women and girls in Australia" - Christine Milne
The Prime Minister's response to the request is: it's not his call.
He said it's up to the speakers of the House of Representatives and the Senate to decide if Parliamant House visitors should be allowed to wear coverings.
Australian Greens leader Christine Milne says if the burqa is banned in parliament house, it will soon be banned elsewhere.
"Make no mistake - this is a leadership institution, it is a signal to the rest of the country," she said.
"If the parliament does it, it says that banks will do it, anyone else will do it. We will increase the risk of violence towards women and girls in Australia."
Senator Lambie says she's drawing up a bill to ban the burqa in public places across Australia.
But she won't necessarily have the support of her Palmer United Party colleagues, with Clive Palmer saying the party does not have a position on the matter and his senators can vote however they wish.
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