While introducing a new animal welfare strategy into the ACT Legislative Assembly, city services minister Meegan Fitzharris said the territory was working with the RSPCA to improve its ability to impose animal ownership bans on people convicted of animal welfare offences.

Ms Fitzharris said she hoped to bring forward those law changes either later this year or early next year.

"Certainly for someone who's been convicted of animal cruelty offences and does have a record where animal cruelty is something we see as persistent in someone's behaviour [they should be prevented from owning animals]," Ms Fitzharris said.

"There are a lot of stakeholders that say to us we don't think those people should be able to own animals and on the face of it I agree with that."

Ms Fitzharris told the Assembly in response to a recommendation from the estimates committee that her directorate had looked at the ACT's penalties related to dogs, in comparison with other jurisdictions.

She said they found the ACT had some of "the strongest [penalties] across the board".

She also said City Services had determined it was "not possible" to create a set of criteria to help make decisions about dangerous dogs – another recommendation of the estimates committee – "as that would remove the need to exercise discretion and judgement and in every case, achieve a consistent and fair outcome".

However Ms Fitzharris said the government could introduce a fine or other penalty if owners of dangerous dogs failed to comply with the conditions set upon them.

That penalty could be a ban on pet ownership, she said.

She said other potential improvements flagged were giving the registrar the discretion to extend the legislated timeframe to complete an investigation beyond 28 days.

"This is not always sufficient to accommodate the sometimes complex circumstances of an attack," Ms Fitzharris said.