Opposition leader Bill Shorten wants the nation's prison parole system toughened up so it can better deal with convicted terrorists.
Shorten told NewsCorp Australia he thinks convicted terrorists should be assessed as a special class of serious criminals and the families of those convicted should be screened for potential risk factors.
"We need to make sure that the system doesn't assume these people can be treated in the same standard fashion as other criminals," Shorten told The Saturday Telegraph.
"We've got to make sure that either in jail or outside of jail we're not embedding more radicalisation and more danger for our community.
"Every effort should be made to separate the individual from prior associates and the environment they were previously involved in."
The comments comes after Attorney-General George Brandis on Friday announced plans for a new system that would keep some paedophiles and convicted terrorists in jail after their sentences have finished.
Brandis has called on the states to back his plan that would extend the detention of some criminals if they are considered a serious threat to the community.