The federal government is putting forward its Strengthening the Character Test bill, which will be brought back for debate in parliament.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison told Sydney radio 2GB it's needed to close a major loophole in its migration laws.
"The law needs to be fixed, it needs to be changed. We've already expelled - just since the last election - 4,000 people on visas for the crimes they committed and then the character tests provisions, 10,000 since we first came to government. When I was immigration minister I signed off on quite a number of those. But the judges are handing down sentences that enable people to get around this and we need an objective test."
The proposal would see non-citizens have visas cancelled if they're convicted of violent crimes but sentenced to less than 12 months' jail.
The Opposition is questioning whether the changes are necessary. Labor Senator Murray Watt says it is not clear what additional powers the immigration minister needs.
"The immigration minister already has the powers he says he needs through this legislation. He already has the powers to deport serious criminals, in fact he recently showed after a total cluster (mess) that he had the power to deport Novak Djokovic. If the government has the power to deport Novak Djokovic, it certainly has the power to deport serious criminals of the kind that they're talking about."
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