Crossbench senator Jacqui Lambie insists her move to ban the burqa from public places has emboldened oppressed Muslim women previously afraid to speak out.
The upper house on Thursday is debating the senator's private bill banning full-face coverings in commonwealth jurisdictions such as airports, as well as the ACT and Northern Territory.
It also makes it an offence to force another person or child to wear a full face covering, punishable by imprisonment.
Senator Lambie insists full face coverings make Australians fearful and the right to feel safe must outweigh the right for expression of religious freedom.
She says people hide their identity when they commit crimes.
She's been told Muslim women have been emboldened by her proposed ban, and her public comments on Islam.
Thousands of women in Australia were oppressed and fearful, with lives full of abuse and control by men, Senator Lambie told parliament.
"They are told what to wear and how to dress in public," she said.
"They can't speak out. They are voiceless."
The ban is linked to the national terrorism threat level, kicking in when the terror threat reaches `probable'.
Given the threat level is already at `probable', it would start immediately.
Liberal frontbencher Concetta Fierravanti-Wells says while the burqa was "confronting at times", she's rarely seen women wearing them in Australia.
"I have very rarely seen women whose faces are fully covered," she said.
The most common head covering she has seen is the hijab, which leaves most of the face uncovered.
"Women have told me that they do so because it's their choice," she said.
"It's what they feel they would like to wear as a demonstration of their beliefs."
Liberal Democrat David Leyonhjelm rejected the idea that banning the burqa would improve security.
"I can scarcely think of anything you could do to put security on higher alert than wearing a burqa, other than carrying a neon sign with an arrow pointing at you that says 'potential terrorist'," he told parliament.
Anyone considering a terrorist attack would not be inconvenienced by a burqa ban.
"It's just as easy to hide a bomb under a loose gown as under a burqa," he said.
"And if you are planning to blow yourself up, you won't be worried if a surveillance camera captures an image of your face before it gets blown to bits."
It was more important to ensure immigrants were compatible with Australian values, he said.
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