Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said the state-of-the-art facility would one of the most advanced of its kind in the world as he opened the $106 million building alongside existing Australian Federal Police facilities at Majura on Wednesday.

It houses more than 200 experts in digital forensics, weapons intelligence, fingerprint and facial identification, and biological and chemical criminalistics to enhance investigative and forensic capabilities for ACT Policing and the AFP.

"The facility will enable the AFP to maintain, improve and expand its forensic and intelligence service capability, including enhanced counter-terrorism and rapid response, firearms identification, crime scene investigation and biometrics matching," Mr Turnbull said.

AFP acting national manager of specialist operations, Simon Walsh, said it had been a once-in-a-generation opportunity to plan and build a facility that would not only boost existing police forensics operations, but also shape ACT, national and international investigations for years to come.

Dr Walsh said the centre was more than just a new building and represented an entirely new way of working, acting as a modern centrepiece of how forensic science could best support law enforcement and national security investigations.

The building's layout aimed to cut segregation between expert forensic specialisations and fostered swift assessments and bolstered collaboration and integration through a shared central lab precinct where evidence was examined.

The facility replaced the AFP's outdated and overstretched Weston forensic centre, which opened in 1980 and had been renovated in 2000 and expanded with demountable buildings in 2007.

Federal police warned in 2012 that samples could be lost or contaminated unless a more modern facility was built to replace the ageing centre.

Dr Walsh said the new laboratory allowed for more segregation to lessen such risks and also gave experts more space to carry out forensic work on major investigations which often involved numerous crime scenes.

Mr Turnbull said law enforcement agencies needed to be equipped with "the most accurate information, the finest forensic and investigative support", to respond to complex threats to national security. The centre also has a strong focus on digital forensics and cybercrime.

It would expand the AFP's capacity to carry out major investigations and respond to crisis situations, including those that required disaster victim identification, Mr Turnbull said.

"The AFP is globally renowned for its forensic expertise, most notably for the collaboration with Indonesian police following the bombing in Bali and more recently for the co-ordination and leadership role that the AFP took following the downing of flight MH17," he said.

The AFP announced plans to build the centre in 2012 and it was expected to be fully operational at the end of last year.

Forensic experts moved from the Weston site in recent months after construction delays pushed back the completion date.