Delivering his inaugural professorial lecture at the University of Melbourne Law School tonight, Mr Fraser said there had been increasing disregard over the past seven years for the rule of law in the name of national security.

He said examples included refugees being sent to Nauru, children kept in detention centres and Australian citizens being deported.

"We seriously need a bill of rights following the practice of all European Union countries, New Zealand, Canada and the US. We're the odd man out," Mr Fraser said in his lecture, Finding Security in Terrorism's Shadow: The Importance of the Rule of Law.

Mr Fraser acknowledged moves by Victoria and the ACT to establish a bill of rights, but said state legislation only applied to state law.