Convicted terrorists on Australian shores that have served out their prison sentences may be detained indefinitely under new legislation that will be proposed by Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull.

The legislation will be put forward today at Turnbull’s first Council of Australian Governments (COAG) meeting.

The proposal will allow authorities to further reprimand terrorists in jail after serving their sentences, treating them the same as sex offenders deemed ‘unfit’ to be rehabilitated back into society.

It follows on from laws passed this earlier year that allow Australian authorities to strip citizenship from dual-nationals involved in terror-related offences.

Head of Federal Parliament’s Intelligence and Security Committee, Dan Tehan said recent overseas attacks validated the new measurers.

“Sadly, we’ve seen in France, where we’ve had people convicted of terrorism, doing time, coming out and in the instance of the Charlie Hebdo attacks, then carrying out a brutal terrorist attack."

Under the legislation, the power to indefinitely detain a terrorist would be given to state and territory Supreme Courts.

“Where people are a danger to society after they have served their time for conviction, as we do with sex and as we do with violent offenders… then they should be put into preventative detention,” Tehan said.

The proposed uniform laws across the country will not waive immunity to convicted terrorists currently serving sentences, except in New South Wales and South Australia where 13 repeat offenders are embroiled in the legal system.

The two states already have preventative measures in place that accommodate similar justice to remorseless criminals. Those who are released from the state prisons and reoffend are detained indefinitely, if releasing them once more would pose an unwanted danger to society.

This power by the state courts has rarely been used, but Tehan asserts the High Court has already upheld related strategies with necessary safety methods.

“Our state counterparts could deal with this threat quickly using schemes already on the books for sexual and violent offenders,” he said.

The indefinite detention could apply to an array of suspects, especially the 25 people that have been charged with terror-related offences in the country over the past 15 months.

Australians that fight in foreign countries and return back to the nation may also be subject to permanent detention, should proposals be accepted at the COAG meeting.

The proposals will target sole Australian citizens, unlike legislation recently passed that gave authorities the power to strip citizenship from dual-nationals.

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