The federal Labor party is expected to back a bill before parliament that would result in the blocking of websites facilitating piracy, Fairfax Media understands, but only if certain safeguards are agreed to by the Abbott government.

The Copyright Amendment (Online Infringement) Bill 2015, currently being scrutinised by a parliamentary committee, would require ISPs — such as Telstra, Optus and iiNet — to block access to websites a judge deems to have the primary purpose of infringing copyright.

Bill Shorten visits Google's Pyrmont offices to talk with young software engineer Fabian Tamp, in the Google Car of the future. Credit:Quentin Jones

The websites identified to be blocked would be brought to a judge by a rights holder concerned its copyright has been infringed. Sites likely to be blocked include The Pirate Bay and KickassTorrents, which allow people to download and share movies and TV shows illicitly.

The parliamentary committee examining the bill was due to report back any recommendations it had on May 12, but the handing down of its report was delayed until May 29.