States and territories will introduce law changes into their parliaments to beef up counter-terrorism efforts.

The changes were agreed at the Council of Australian Governments meeting to safeguard national laws underpinning the ability to arrest, monitor, investigate and prosecute homegrown extremists and returning foreign fighters.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott said it was not a party political issue, it is a national security measure.

"This is an issue of keeping Australians safe ... and the best way to do so is to make sure that there are no loopholes that can be exploited by people who would do us harm and a harmonisation of security laws is very important," he told reporters after the meeting in Canberra.

"If you look at the security laws that the Howard government introduced from 2003 onwards, they were all mirrored in the relevant state legislation, and my hope and expectation is that the new security laws that we are bringing in at the moment will likewise be mirrored in state legislation."

The communique released after the meeting today said the Commonwealth was working with the states to ensure a $13.4 million commitment to strengthening community engagement and countering extremism beefs up and complements existing state programs.

The states also agreed to work together on the white papers for reform of the federation and the taxation system to make sure there is well-informed and constructive public debate about the need for change and any potential changes to existing roles.

They said good progress was being made under the $5 billion asset recycling initiative, which provides the states an incentive to agree to asset sales and use those proceeds to build new infrastructure.

The Commonwealth, NSW, Victoria and Queensland intend to conclude an agreement as soon as possible.