Australia's domestic spy agency has pleaded its case to be able to question children as young as 14 and people suspected of foreign influence.
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The federal government wants to give the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation greater powers with fewer safeguards.
Legislation before parliament would expand the circumstances in which ASIO could apply for a compulsory questioning warrant.
It would also remove the "double lock" authorisation process, which requires warrants to be signed off by the attorney-general and an independent judge.
The attorney-general would be allowed to approve a warrant without the involvement of a judge.
ASIO director-general Mike Burgess said the security environment had rapidly changed.
He said younger people were becoming involved in extremist activity and the threats posed by espionage and foreign interference had reached a scale not previously seen in Australia.
Mr Burgess said ASIO would be quick to embrace the expanded questioning powers.
"I would use it this year. I would have used it already in espionage and foreign interference," he told a parliamentary inquiry on Friday.
"And just this week, in considering a warrant to go to the attorney-general, I would have been minded to look at using it for counter-terrorism."
The legislation would allow ASIO to seek to question minors aged 14 to 18 with a lawyer present.
Currently, the spy agency is unable to question anyone aged under 16.
The bill would also broaden the types of cases that could trigger questioning warrants, allowing them to be used in relation to espionage, politically motivated violence and acts of foreign interference, rather than just in relation to terrorism offences.
Labor committee members peppered the ASIO boss with questions about leaving warrant authorisations to the attorney-general alone, removing a key layer of oversight.
Mr Burgess said the attorney-general already made independent decisions on a wide range of intrusive powers.
He said the changes would also speed up the process, saving crucial time during critical situations.
The existing compulsory questioning rules were originally introduced after the September 11 terrorist attacks in the United States.
They have only been used 16 times, most recently in 2010.
Australian Associated Press
