"Imagine the power of being able to identify, to be looking out for and identify a person suspected of being involved in terrorist activities, walking into an airport, walking into a sporting stadium," Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull told reporters Wednesday.

But advocacy group Australian Privacy Foundation chair David Vaile said the proposal was an invasion of privacy and an invitation for hackers and identity thieves.

Drivers license images as well as passport and visa photos can already be accessed by Australian law enforcement agencies, but the new system would automate the process in one location.

"We (have) set aside all of our traditional protections and benefits of being part of the rule of law, Western community, and adopted the sort of dangerous authoritarian practices that are more typical of military dictatorships and police states," Vaile told CNN.

In a statement put out after the measure was approved, state and territory leaders promised to maintain "robust privacy safeguards."

'A honey pot'

The announcement on Wednesday prominently focused on the databases' use to fight terrorism but Vaile said it could be easily expanded to other criminal investigations, including minor offenses.

"What we're talking about here is the very present risk of scope creep, something starts out targeted at one (type of crime) but then it gets expanded to be used for another," he said.

Not only that, but according to the Vaile the large amount of valuable information accumulated in one place was likely to attract criminal activity.

"Once you've got that honey pot you attract flies, you attract hackers, you attract spies and criminals. This information is absolutely, critically useful for identity fraud," he said.

In the 1980s there was a push by Australia's then-Labor government under Prime Minister Bob Hawke to introduce a mandatory identification card, called the Australia Card. It was finally abandoned in 1987, partly due to concerns over privacy.

Speaking at the press conference where the new measure was announced Wednesday, Minister for Justice Michael Keenan admitted the database could be hacked.

"All data that exists online, there is a possibility that it could be hacked. But the point is, we have a comprehensive National Cyber Security Strategy to make sure that information ... is held in a safe way," he said.

"I don't know if you've checked your Facebook page lately, but people put an enormous amount of their own data up in the public domain already," he told reporters.

The facial recognition program will be rolled out by 2018 in some Australian states, according to Keenan.