ACT Justice Minister Shane Rattenbury said on Thursday the justice directorate is examining the territory's potential 'places of detention' that could come under the United Nations Optional Protocols under the Convention Against Torture.

The ACT Human Rights Commission has called for such an audit to be publicly undertaken, citing numerous gaps in the ACT's oversight of facilities ranging from police and court cells to mental health units.

While the federal government has pledged to ratify the protocol by years' end, as part of the ratification, the Commonwealth must decide on the scope of facilities that would come under the UN's gaze.

Under the optional protocol, countries that ratify can decide whether it would apply, for instance, only to police and jails or more widely to include aged care centres and mental health units.

Mr Rattenbury said that decision would determine the scope at the territory level, so the directorate's work on the issue could not be finished until the federal government announces its definition of 'places of detention'.

States and territory governments will have a number of years to set up the agencies required to meet the protocols, after the Commonwealth ratifies it.

Under the protocols, the ACT will also need to create a new oversight body, or task an existing body, with the oversight functions needed.

The ACT Human Rights Commissioner Dr Helen Watchirs has recommended that body be part of the commission, given its remit to protect human rights, and that it have independent statutory powers, greater than that the commission currently has.

Mr Rattenbury said he and the directorate were working on the scope of that body, but a final model would need to go before Cabinet later this year before a final decision could be made.

It remains unclear if a report on the government's investigation into the gaps in oversight of places of detention will be publicly released, and whether or not the new body will be fully independent of government.

A justice and community services spokeswoman said that model would also need to be informed by the Commonwealth Ombudsman, as it will be the central coordinator for the new "national preventative mechanism" bodies, starting in July next year.

"It would be premature for the ACT to conclude its considerations prior to the commencement of this coordinating function," she said.

Dr Watchirs had also urged that public consultations on the proposed model by completed before a decision.

But the justice spokeswoman said the government would consider the ACT submissions to the federal human rights commission on the protocols, more consultation with Canberrans would be considered only after the government had "settled potential models".

Mr Rattenbury also on Thursday introduced a new bill to the legislative assembly to create the framework for the ACT to be able to meet the requirements of the protocols.

The new laws, he said, would help ensure the legal framework was in place to allow the relevant UN subcommittee to inspect territory facilities when needed, once the protocols were official ratified at the federal level.