Peter Dutton has told Sky News new encryption laws have given Australia’s criminal intelligence community the powers to access the “sewer of the internet” – the dark web – and attack terrorists, criminal organisations, and paedophile rings.

The home affairs minister said the “sewer of the internet is the dark web” and it is the place where paedophiles, terrorist organisations, and crime groups trade information and engage in criminal activities.

“The problem for us up until now is this has really been a no-go-zone in many ways, or it’s been very difficult because the technology has been ahead of where the law is,” Mr Dutton said.

The new laws will now give the Australian Federal Police and the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission the power to anonymously access the dark web without being traced to any IP address.

“It just may mean they can disrupt that offence even in some cases before it takes place.”