Labor has joined Australia's peak legal body in criticising the Morrison government's bid to improve press freedom, arguing more protections are needed for journalists.
Attorney-General Christian Porter has told federal prosecutors they must get his approval before charging journalists over some national security issues.
Law Council of Australia president Arthur Moses believes it should not be up to a politician to decided if a journalist faces charges for reporting on the government.
He has grave concerns the direction could undermine the independence of the federal prosecutor by requiring consent from the attorney-general.
"What will enhance press freedoms in this country is a proper review of our laws to ensure that the actions of journalists doing their job as a watchdog of government are not criminalised and put at risk of prosecution," he said.
Shadow attorney-general Mark Dreyfus said Labor welcomed the action, but called on Mr Porter to rule out prosecuting journalists who were the subject of the raids which sparked the press freedom debate.
"It won't prevent police raids on journalists," he told ABC's AM on Tuesday.
"It won't prevent other acts of intimidation by the government. What we urgently need is more protections for press freedom and the public's right to know."
The ABC's Sydney headquarters and the Canberra home of a News Corp journalist were raided in June over leaks of separate stories based on leaked government information.
AFP officers searching the ABC offices in Sydney. Source: Twitter
Mr Moses said while he didn't doubt the attorney-general would act in good faith, the changes put media in a difficult position.
"It creates an apprehension on the part of journalists that they will need to curry favour with the government in order to avoid prosecution," he said.
"The media must be able to lawfully report on matters of public interest without fear or favour."
News Corp is also wary of the directive.
"This so-called safeguard falls a long way short of what media organisations are seeking, to recognise the role of journalists to keep the public informed," group executive Campbell Reid said.
The national broadcaster has welcomed the move, saying it had touted it to parliamentary inquiries on the issue as an option to strengthen media freedom.
"The ABC looks forward to seeing the recommendations from those inquiries as well as an expeditious conclusion to the current AFP investigation into ABC journalists," a spokesman said in a statement.
