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Civil liberty groups condemn anti-terror laws that will allow  people as young as 16 to be held for a week without charge

Civil liberties groups and opposition parties yesterday  condemned sweeping new anti-terrorist legislation which will allow Australia's domestic spy agency to detain suspects for up to seven days without being charged.

The new law will also give the Australian Security and Intelligence Organisation (Asio) the right to detain people who are not suspected of committing any specific crime but may have information concerning possible terrorist activities such as bomb attacks.

The laws were passed by the Senate late on Wednesday after more than a year of wrangling between the government and the main opposition party, Labor.

The government had originally wanted to give Asio the power to detain children as young as 14, but Labor forced an amendment, with the minimum age of detention now set at 16.

Labor also successfully demanded that detainees will be granted immediate access to a lawyer.

The Justice Minister, Chris Ellison, said: 'We believe that with these amendments we have a balance between security interests and the interests of the individual.'

But the president of the Law Institute of Victoria, Bill O'Shea, condemned the legislation as shameful. 'Any legislation that entitles a spy agency to imprison 16 and 17-year-olds for up to a week in breach of Australia's obligations under the UN Convention on the Rights of a Child should not be passed in this country and has no place on our statute books,' he said.

There are fears that anyone associating with terrorist suspects - including journalists, priests and doctors - could also be detained under the legislation. The new law will allow Asio to seek further warrants after holding a suspect for seven days, a point criticised by Senator Bob Brown of the Australian Greens.

'As you're walking out the door from your first detention you can be arrested and brought straight back in again. There will be innocent people who have their lives ruined by this legislation without any gain to the country,' Senator Brown said.

Another Greens MP, Michael Organ, described the bill as 'a frightening piece of legislation'.

'We do not agree with the government and the opposition on the need for such draconian measures and for such an attack on our basic civil liberties despite the realities of the post-September 11 environment,' he said.

The new legislation has been prompted by heightened concerns that Australia is a terrorist target following last October's attacks in Bali, in which 88 Australians died, and the Australian government's military backing for the United States and Britain in Iraq.

The Democrats party said the new law put the burden of proof on the suspect, rather than the authorities. 'The detained person will be required to prove that they do not have the information that Asio says they have,' the Democrats' Brian Greig said.

The bill came under renewed scrutiny when it was debated in the lower House of Representatives yesterday but was still expected to become law.

The Attorney-General, Daryl Williams, said the government had 'bent over backwards to accommodate sensible suggestions that strengthen and enhance the operation of the bill'. He said Australia would be safer with the new law.



New power for Australia's spy agency