Terrorism suspects as young as 10 will be able to be held for up to a fortnight without charge under an agreement with the states and territories.

Key points: People could have civil liberties cut as part of new counter-terrorism measures.

People could have civil liberties cut as part of new counter-terrorism measures. Terrorism suspects will be able to be held for up to a fortnight without charge.

Terrorism suspects will be able to be held for up to a fortnight without charge. Community safety is the highest priority when introducing new counter-terrorism measures.

The states and territories agreed to the extra counter-terrorism measures, which also include making drivers licence photos available in real time to help quickly identify terrorism suspects, after meeting with the Prime Minister this morning.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said if children were detained under the new rules, there would be protections in place, such as having an adult present.

"Unfortunately minors do get manipulated," New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian said.

"We need to make sure we take every step we can to prevent any violent acts from occurring.

"Obviously if you don't have this and if people are released they can go and destroy evidence, or even worse, they can go and detonate whatever material might have, so you have got to have proper precautions," WA Labor Premier Mark McGowan said.

"We are dealing with the civil liberties of terrorists and I don't particularly care about the civil liberties of terrorists or potential terrorists, so I think these are appropriate safeguards or precautions."

Mr Turnbull said adding driver's licence photos to a national database would help police identify criminals and terrorists much more quickly.

"It's really taking a resource that has been accessed for years and years, and making it available in a 21st century manner," he said.

"I thought that most Australians would assume it would be accessed in this way now but it hasn't been."

He said it will enable police and security services to give an "even better level of protection" by being able to identify persons of concern, people who are suspected of terrorist offences or terrorist plots in real-time.

Measures not 'mass surveillance'

Mr Turnbull denied it amounted to any form of mass surveillance and Justice Minister Michael Keenan said machines would not be automatically scanning everyone's face.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said she hoped the new system would be ready in time for the Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast in April next year.

"I want them to be safe and secure I know our agencies are working very collectively to ensure that will happen but in relation to the drivers licences," she said.

Decisions taken at today's meeting of state, territory and federal leaders will mean some people's civil liberties will also be curtailed, Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews said.

"Notional considerations of civil liberties do not trump the very real threat, the very real threat of terror in our country today," the Labor Premier said.

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews says some people's civil liberties could be curtailed. ( ABC News: Iskhandar Razak )

Today's meeting also decided to extend telephone warnings to people near a terrorism incident, in the same way as they broadcast to people near natural disasters at the moment.

The system has been used since 2009 to warn people about bushfires, floods or cyclones.

It will now be available to send critical information to people near a national security incident.

The Prime Minister and state and territory leaders also agreed to new laws to make it a crime to carry out terrorist hoaxes and to be in possession of instruction material for carrying out terrorist acts.

"How to build a bomb for example, that will constitute a very serious offence, as it should," Mr Turnbull said.

Where do we draw the line?

Fergus Hanson, who heads the Cyber Policy Centre at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, said it was hard to judge which crimes or threats warranted the use of facial recognition and he warned of a slippery slope where extra offences were incrementally added.

"It is very difficult to define a line so I think most Australians would agree that using facial recognition to track down terrorists is a good idea," Mr Hanson said.

"People might say using it for tracking down murderers is a good idea, but what about people who haven't paid their parking fine."

Mr Andrews dismissed the concern about protection for personal liberties as something leaders could not afford.

Gladys Berejiklian backs a plan to use driver's licenses for facial recognition. ( Twitter: Gladys Berejiklian )

"There is going to be people out there talking about civil liberties today, they are going to be talking about the thin edge of the wedge and all this sort of stuff, well frankly, that talk … is a luxury that might be available to them it is not available to political leaders in this country," Mr Andrews said.

Ms Berejiklian also played down concerns the drivers' licence photo database could be more prone to being hacked.

"I think protecting the public is the more appropriate concern," she said.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk expressed confidence people in her state were prepared to accept the use of the technology, including at next year's Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast.

"This is about stopping any prospect of terrorism and it is ensuring thousands of people are safe at the Games," Ms Palaszczuk said.

"I support whatever measures are needed — surveillance, added security."

State and territory leaders also argued they did not want to be exposed for having overlooked or ignored any warnings if terrorists did successfully strike.

"What I would be worried about is if we, heaven forbid, had another terrorist attack in this country and it became clear that we had technology available to us — tools and powers and laws and resources available to us — and we had squibbed it because of notional concerns about civil liberties, overlooking something if terrorists strike," Mr Andrews said.

WA Premier Mark McGowan argued it was important for all jurisdictions across Australia to have a national approach.

"People who engage in terrorism may not recognise state borders, and whilst some cities in Australian have a bigger problem than others, of course we don't want to see people who have terrorist tendencies think they can go elsewhere where there might be a softer or less vigilant approach," Mr McGowan said.

Editor's note: An earlier version of this story stated that suspects as young as 14 would be covered under the new agreement. That was based on the information available at the time. The Minister has since clarified it can apply to children from the age of 10.