The government is proposing new legislation that would strip extremists of their Australian citizenship if convicted of a terror offence.

The proposed new law strips the requirement that a terrorist must first be sentenced to six years in prison before their citizenship is taken away.

"It will only be if they are convicted of a terrorist offence, the current wording of the law, we believe it is unrealistic and needs to reflect the genuine threat that has been posed by those engaged in this activity," said Prime Minsiter Scott Morrison.  "The Minister will only need to be reasonably satisfied that a person would otherwise have another citizenship, which is a change from the standard existing today."

Legislation is expected to be introduced to parliament in the coming weeks.  Mr. Morrison and Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton are also putting pressure on Parliament's intelligence and security committee to speed up its review of another proposal to make it easier for law enforcement agencies to access encrypted messages.