Australia May Introduce Indefinite Detention for Terror Convicts

Canberra may considerably toughen its counter-terrorism legislation.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Australia's Attorney-General George Brandis has proposed a counter-terrorism bill, which would allow indefinite detention for people convicted of terrorism-related offenses, he said in a statement Thursday.

"The High Risk Terrorist Offenders Bill amends Part 5.3 of the Criminal Code Act 1995 to create a new regime, to enable a Supreme Court, upon application by the Attorney-General, to make an order for the ongoing detention of high risk terrorist offenders who are approaching the end of their custodial sentences and are about to be released into the community," the statement said.

The second bill proposed by the attorney-general is expected to reduce the age, at which a person suspected of terrorism can have a control order placed on them, as well as to create new security regimes that would help monitor people under government control.

The new measures are aimed "to ensure our laws are as strong and up-to-date as possible, to enable police and intelligence agencies to fight terrorism, and to keep our community safe," Brandis said.

On September 6, Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull warned of a "real" threat of terrorist attacks in the country after the Daesh jihadist group called on its supporters to carry out attacks against Australians.