Former Senator and Federal Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, Stephen Conroy, has been appointed to the board of Australian financial technology and infrastructure company, Sargon.

Terrorists and paedophiles, the two claimed targets of the government's encryption laws, are likely to bury themselves deeper on the dark net and adopt necessary security precautions to keep operating as before, a senior security professional has warned.

The push by Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton to bring the encryption bill to a vote before Parliament rises for the year is facing an obstacle, after Senate president Scott Ryan raised the possibility that powers in the bill could conflict with parliamentary privilege.