State and territory leaders are today expected to agree on new laws that would see some terrorists locked up indefinitely, like paedophiles.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has put the indefinite detention plan on the agenda for his meeting with premiers and chief ministers in Sydney today.

The ABC has been told the group discussed the plan at a dinner last night and are expected to give in-principle support to it at today's meeting.

"I think there'll be agreement over the terrorism issues, there's no dispute over that," West Australian Premier Colin Barnett said this morning.

Such laws could have seen one of Islamic State's most notorious Australian fighters, Khaled Sharrouf, kept in prison if he had been deemed likely to commit another offence.

Sharrouf was jailed in Australia in 2005 in the wake of the Operation Pendennis counter-terrorism raids.

After being released from jail, Sharrouf slipped out of the country on his brother's passport, eventually travelling to fight in Syria, where he is believed to have been killed earlier this year.

The head of Federal Parliament's Intelligence and Security Committee, Dan Tehan, said the Charlie Hebdo attack in France justified such measures.

"Sadly we've seen in France, where we've had people convicted of terrorism, doing time, coming out and in the instance of the Charlie Hebdo attacks, then carrying out a brutal terrorist act," he said.

"At home, reports of Australian terrorists and prison gangs using their time in jail to recruit and radicalise other inmates are equally disturbing."

Under the plan, the power to indefinitely detain a terrorist would rest with state and territory Supreme Courts.

"Where people are a danger to society after they have served their time for conviction, as we do with sex and as we do with violent offenders ... then they should be put into preventative detention," Mr Tehan said.

He said he hoped the states and territories would agree to pass the necessary laws in their jurisdictions, after today's talks.

"This is a gap in our current system, this is a gap which potentially presents a danger to the community's safety," he said.

Unlike the legislation Parliament recently passed to strip dual citizens of their Australian citizenship if they commit a terrorist act, the proposal would apply to any Australian citizen.

There are currently nine convicted terrorists in jail in New South Wales and four in Victoria.

Health tops tax talks at COAG

State and territory leaders entering the COAG talks stressed that any major tax changes must benefit the health system.

Premiers and chief ministers will discuss the tax system during today's meeting, including ongoing concerns about an $80 billion gap in federal funding for health and education.

South Australian Premier Jay Weatherill said he wanted the group to settle on a solution.

"We need to address the healthcare funding crisis. What we're facing is an American-style healthcare system where you've either got to be very rich or very lucky to actually get the healthcare you need," he said.

"That's not something we want here in this country."

State and territory Labor leaders said they would not stand in the way of a GST hike if the Federal Government took it to an election and won a mandate.

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews said he was opposed to raising the GST, but joined ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr in saying he would not block the move if it was endorsed at the next federal election.

"If the Liberal Government takes to a federal election a plan to change the GST, I wouldn't stand in the way if they were successful and got a mandate," Mr Andrews said.

"But they'd need to have the proper discussion and debate."