Muslim leaders have condemned the government's move to extend control orders to children as young as 14, saying it will further alienate at-risk youth and do nothing to keep Australia safe.
As the government attempts to reset relations with the Muslim community to tackle violent extremism, Islamic leaders yesterday rounded on plans that would allow security agencies to monitor and detain teenage terrorism suspects.
Launching a new national day of unity with religious leaders in Canberra, Malcolm Turnbull said the new laws had been under development with the states for "some considerable time", rejecting claims of a "knee-jerk" response to the Parramatta shooting in which a 15-year-old murdered police worker Curtis Cheng. 
Muslim Women's Association chief executive Maha Abdo said the new laws would prevent children in the community feeling "like any normal mainstream young person" in Australia, and warned that it might further alienate -Islamic youth. "The more you introduce tougher laws, the harder it is for the community to work with each other, and to have trust," she said. "It is concerning because it is increasing the fear. What happened to the constructive dialogue with young people? This is going to increase the concern for mothers and parents." Sheik Wesam Charkawi, a Sydney-based school chaplain working with young Muslims, believes the new tranche of counter-terrorism laws to capture younger teenagers are "too much".
"I don't think it helps, I think it's counter-intuitive and counter-productive and they need to start from a completely different perspective," he told The Australian.
"You are talking about a community that â€¦ already feels isolated, already feels targeted and misrepresented and I almost think it feels like this is more of the same.
"We have to do things differently. We need an approach that doesn't demonise the community.
"We have more laws than we have had before in this respect and yet it has not made us any safer." The federal government said it would soon introduce legislation to lower the age for a control order from 16 to 14 years.
Samier Dandan, president of the Lebanese Muslim Association, said his organisation was reserving judgment until there was evidence the laws were needed, but he said the country's approach to countering radicalisation needed to go -"beyond policing".
"You have to look at it from a practical perspective - I would rather engage with a child than having him cuffed up and be sent to a police station," he said. "We have to focus on preventive measures, where if we recognise there is some sort of a shift and a change within that age â€¦. preventive and counselling services are probably more effective than having him interrogated by police officers." President of the Muslim Legal Network of Victoria Jazeer Nijamudeen said the organisation was following the proposal with -apprehension. "It's concerning for the community and we are aware civil rights groups have expressed similar concerns," he said.
Diana Abdel-Rahman, president of Australian Muslim Voice, said she was concerned Muslim children "born in the age of terrorism" were being unfairly painted as a threat. "It is again targeting the youth - you push them underground, you make them hide." Muslim community advocate Lydia Shelly said the laws could feed the propaganda of extremist groups that Australia was hypocritical in its promotion of civil liberties. "This is not going to â€¦ make us safer," she said.
"It is knee-jerk legislative -response from the Attorney--General, disproportionate, unnec-essary and harmful."Additional reporting: Jennine Khalik