A new ''biometric'' identification system designed to thwart the use of false passports by terrorists such as Khaled Sharrouf will be introduced to airports around the country.
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The rollout of the $158 million ''eGate'' departure-gate scanning system adds to recent announcements about the establishment of airport terrorism units.
Sharrouf, a convicted terrorist, is notorious for leaving Australia on his brother's passport, then becoming an active participant in Islamic State's incursions in Syria and Iraq. He made headlines when pictures of his son were published holding the severed head of a Syrian soldier.
Minister for Immigration and Border Protection Scott Morrison said the electronic departure gates would be rolled out from mid-next year.
Australian Customs and Border Protection Service said new legislation was required for its new eGate facial recognition system, intended to stop suspected terrorists entering or leaving the country, to work effectively.
Customs has been testing the eGate system at Brisbane airport since July and intends to start rolling it out to Australia's eight major international airports from the second half of next year.
Allocation across Australia's airports would be based on traveller volumes, the agency said. It declined to reveal whether eGate had been successful in identifying terrorism suspects or any other details about its performance.
The Customs spokeswoman said eGates would operate and record biometric information in a similar way to the current SmartGate facial recognition system available to Australian passport holders at airport arrival halls.
Prime Minister Tony Abbott has previously said the government's spending on biometric systems should be able to address situations when would-be terrorists attempt to leave Australia using other people's passports.
Neither the ACBPS nor the Attorney-General's office would provide details of the proposed legislation. ''Legislation is proposed that will enhance the ability for agencies to capture, store and share biometrics in order to improve the identification of terrorists and other persons of interest,'' a spokeswoman for Customs said.
Dr Lesley Lynch, secretary of the NSW Council for Civil Liberties, said she was not aware of what legislative changes the government was seeking.
The council had broader concerns about the government's plan to make passengers account for their movements in and out of the country.
''Are we moving towards the kind of Soviet, Cuban horror eras where you've got to get a kind of special clearance to leave the country? All this reversal of the onus of proof to demonstrate you're not going to do something nefarious rather than on them,'' Dr Lynch said.
Fairfax Media with Andrew Colley