Australia's new counter-terrorism laws were supposed to keep people safe, but they have also seen the nation named and shamed on a list of the world's worst human rights offenders.

Along with the country's treatment of asylum seekers, Indigenous Australians and same-sex citizens, the strict new anti-terror laws were enough to land Australia on the list from Human Rights Watch alongside nations such as Syria, China and Cuba.

The list evaluates 90 nations deemed to be human rights offenders around the world - among them countries such as the USA and France.

It is the second year in a row Australia has been named on the list.

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Before that the nation last appeared once in 2008.

Historically, Australia's human rights offences have been deemed in the report to be committed against asylum seekers and Indigenous Australians.

This year, the New York-based organisation acknowledged Australia's strong record of protecting the civil liberties of its citizens, but said the "overbroad" raft of counter-terrorism laws would "infringe on freedoms of expression and movement".

The government pushed the laws through late last year following threats from extremist group ISIL and a number of high-profile police raids in Sydney and Brisbane.

Attorney General Senator George Brandis said the laws were intended to keep Australians safe.

New legislation included tough new jail sentences for promoting or supporting terrorism, or travelling to a "declared area" of the globe.

The government is also trying to push through a bill that would force telecommunications companies to retain vast amounts of user metadata, giving Australian intelligence agencies unprecedented powers to monitor the country's internet use.

A number of lawyers and civil rights activists condemned the legislation when it was first proposed, saying the parameters were too broad.

Other issues also hampered Australia's human rights standing.

"The government’s failure to respect international standards protecting asylum seekers and refugees ... continues to take a heavy human toll and undermines Australia’s ability to call for stronger human rights protections abroad," the HRW report said.

It also criticised Australia's record on issues including Indigenous rights, disability protection and same-sex marriage.