Australia's minister for Immigration and Border Protection has introduced a bill that expands biometric data gathering at borders to tackle the threat of Australians seeking to travel overseas to fight with terrorist organisations like Islamic State.The Migration Amendment (Strengthening Biometrics Integrity) Bill 2015 will create a simplified scheme to collect biometrics, particularly fingerprints, and include increased collection powers.The amendments in the bill support changes introduced last year by the Counter-Terrorism Legislation Amendment (Foreign Fighters) Act 2014.Amid growing global concern over the threat posed by extremist groups such as Islamic State, in August Prime Minister Tony Abbott said biometric screening will be introduced at airports within 12 months. A further 80 officers will be stationed at other major airports to monitor the movements of people on Australia's national security watch lists.Immigration minister Peter Dutton said the new bill will address gaps in the existing biometric legislative framework and replace seven existing provisions in the Migration, with a single broad discretionary power to collect biometrics for the purposes of the Migration Act or the Migration Regulations.”Recent terrorism related events in Australia and globally serve to remind us that the threat of a domestic terrorist attack remains real,” said Dutton in a statement introducing the bill.”This bill further strengthens Australia's border protection measures by enhancing the capability of the department to identify persons seeking either to enter or depart Australia, and noncitizens who remain in Australia.The new bill allows collection of biometric data from minors and enabling mobile fingerprint checks at airports of foreign fighters with fake passports.”Australia … faces the return of potentially radicalised minors,” Dutton told parliament.On 3 October, Australian state and federal justice ministers also agreed to form a strategy that involves facial recognition technology being implemented across all federal, state and territory jurisdictions, as part of a major counter-terror drive.

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