After pressure from Muslim leaders, Attorney-General George Brandis has also abandoned plans to make permanent the use of preventative detention orders and control orders.

Senator Brandis said a line would be inserted in the National Security Legislation Amendment Bill to ban explicitly the use of torture.

As revealed by Fairfax Media last week, legal advice to crossbench senator David Leyonhjelm had suggested immunities from prosecution for ASIO agents in the bill were so wide they would allow certain forms of torture, including drugging, sensory bombardment and sleep deprivation.

At the time Senator Brandis dismissed the concern as "absolute rubbish".

But on Monday he said an additional phrase that anything that "constitutes torture" would be added to the list of actions by spies that could attract criminal or civil prosecution.

Senator Brandis maintained the fears of torture were nonetheless a "red herring".

"Torture is against Australian law," he said. "No operation which authorised torture could ever be validly authorised under the powers that ASIO has. Nevertheless, I don't want the discussion of this important issue to be diverted by an issue that is effectively a red herring."

The new director-general of ASIO Duncan Lewis said his organisation never had any intention of using torture.

"The Australian Security Intelligence Organisation has never practised torture," he said. "It does not practise torture and it never will. And for that reason, I'm perfectly happy that this addition be placed into the proposed legislation."

Shadow attorney-general Mark Dreyfus had urged the government to make it plain in legislation that torture was forbidden.

Senator Leyonhjelm said he disagreed that the debate was ever a red herring. "I disagree with Senator Brandis' assurances that torture wouldn't be possible," he said. "I sought legal advice, I was confident I was on safe ground, I don't do this lightly."

After meetings with Islamic leaders, Senator Brandis said the government would maintain a "sunset clause" on detention and control orders in its next tranche of laws but pushed out the lapse date by another decade to 2025.

"We have heeded the very, very strong view of leaders of the Islamic community that removing the sunset provisions would send a bad message to that community," he said. "It doesn't weaken the legislation in any respect, whatsoever."

Debate on the first bill was delayed on Monday to allow Labor time to review the changes.

The second anti-terrorism law, known as the Foreign Fighters Bill, which will make it a criminal offence punishable by up to five years in jail to incite terrorism, will be unveiled on Tuesday.

Labor maintained on Monday it had not guaranteed its support for the bill until its reviewed the detail.