The home affairs minister is renewing his push for greater police access to encrypted communications following a foiled terrorist attack in Melbourne.

Police said the three men who were charged with terrorism offences on Tuesday were using an encrypted messaging tool.

Mr Dutton says the laws, being examined by the parliament's intelligence and security committee, are urgent.

"I have spoken to (chair) Andrew Hastie about ways in which the committee can deal with this in an expeditious way so that the parliament can deal with it as soon as possible," he told Sky News.

"We need to get this resolved sooner than later."

Mr Hastie said the matter was urgent but the committee was still in the middle of the inquiry.

"We've taken quite a bit of evidence and we'll bring that to a conclusion soon," Mr Hastie said.

Mr Dutton also has Labor in his sights, slamming Opposition Leader Bill Shorten for not having a position on the legislation.

Shadow attorney-general Mark Dreyfus, who is on the committee, also received stinging criticism from the home affairs minister.

"Mark Dreyfus uses the committee to delay and to obfuscate and I think Bill Shorten uses that frankly as some sort of mechanism to control Mark Dreyfus and the left of Labor," Mr Dutton said.

"Bill Shorten has to stand up and say whether he supports these laws or not."

Despite Mr Dutton's insistence, the chances of the bill passing before end of the year appear slim.

The committee is due to hold three more public hearings, including one just two days before parliament rises for the year.

Mr Dreyfus said the process should not be rushed because Mr Dutton says so.

"In every case (of national security laws) the committee has recommended very substantial change," he told ABC radio.

Digital Rights Watch chairman Tim Singleton-Norton warns an increase in police powers should not be taken lightly.

"The government hasn't actually answered ... how are they going to create the checks and balances to ensure only certain people that we think are okay have access," he told ABC radio.

The legislation would require tech companies to hand over encrypted messages when authorities are investigating crimes.

Australian Associated Press