Police will also be given the power to publish photos, names and identifying details of child sex offenders if they fail to report to police as required or if they are believed to pose a risk.

The proposed changes were tabled in the ACT Parliament on Thursday by Attorney-General Simon Corbell, who said the new rules were justified to protect children and their families.

Police will be able to apply to include historic offenders on the sex offenders register – a rule that applies to people convicted before the 2005 register was set up. The decision will depend on when the offence was committed, its seriousness, the offender's age and the risk he or she poses.

It also allows police to apply to have people removed from the register, taking into account the severity of the offence, the age of the offender at the time of the offence, compliance and rehabilitation and other issues. Mr Corbell said the measure was aimed at less serious offences, such as a person who had "simply made a bad mistake as a young adult or even as a juvenile" but was now named on the sex offender register.

"If it is the case that their offending behaviour is isolated, that is a one-off, that they have learnt about their behaviour and it wasn't a serious offence there should be grounds to allow that person to be potentially removed from the register," he said.

The new rule would also allow offenders aged under 18 to apply not to be included on the sex offender register, also depending on factors such as age, severity and risk.

At the moment police cannot release information from the child sex offender register, but the amendments proposed by Mr Corbell will allow police to issue a public notice, publicising an offender's name, photograph and description – but not the fact that the person is on the register.

Police will also be given new search powers and offenders will be forced to co-operate with police during a search, including providing passwords and access codes to computers.

Offenders will no longer be able to refuse to have their photographs taken – including photos of tattoos or birth marks that can help identification. The government says photographs will only be taken when the offender reports each year or when an offender reports a changed tattoo or birth mark.

Offenders will also be required to report a change to their car – including a new paint job, tinted windows or new wheel rims.

And the bill specifies documents that offenders must provide when they report regularly to police, including travel documents, proof of address, passport and other documents.

Mr Corbell said about 100 people were on the register at the moment.

Sex offenders had obligations about reporting and about places they were not allowed to be, and the new laws ensured police had the powers to enforce those rules.

"The police have highlighted that sometimes sex offenders do not take their reporting obligations seriously, or make it difficult for police to ensure compliance," he said.

"These powers make it clear that the police do have the powers necessary to ensure compliance, including the capacity to seek a specialised warrant from the courts to search and enter premises to make sure that offenders are not accessing material online, for example, when they shouldn't be.

"We need to make sure they are residing in the location they say they are on the sex offender register."

Mr Corbell said the government did not support a publicly available child sex offender register. Such moves in the United States had not had a demonstrable impact on re-offending, nor on the type of sexual offences.