Laws that make it a crime to groom a child have passed the ACT Legislative Assembly, in spite of opposition from the Canberra Liberals and the ACT Bar Association.
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ACT Attorney-General Gordan Ramsay moved to amend a draft bill introduced into the Assembly in November based on the recommendations of the Royal Commission into Institutional Child Sexual Abuse.
The amended legislation removed attempts to make the laws retrospective and created a "reasonable excuse" defence, which could include parents giving kids sex education and doctors prescribing contraceptives to teenagers.
However Canberra Liberals' legal affairs spokesman Jeremy Hanson tried to delay the passage of the bill, saying the details should be scrutinised further.
He echoed concerns of ACT Bar Association president Ken Archer, saying while he supported the intent of the bill, the omission of the phrase 'with the intention of grooming' left the clause "unworkable".
"It might seem obvious that that was intended but that's not the way we draft laws. You don't do it based on good intentions, it's not good enough to assume the way that the legislation will be read or be interpreted," Mr Hanson said.
"If you are going to be prosecuted as a child sex offender the law needs to be explicit."
Mr Hanson said the last-minute bid to ditch the retrospective aspect of the laws was proof they needed to be more thoroughly looked at.
"The example that could be used is a 19 and 17 year old in a relationship, he was the coach, or she was the coach, they're in a relationship that everyone knew, everyone understood, no one had a problem with.
"They might be married with four kids but the way the laws are written now someone could knock on their door and say you're a child sex offender under this law. So I'm glad that's been amended but we should not have arrived at this situation."
But Mr Ramsay accused Mr Hanson of "trivialising" the sexual abuse of minors by portraying the law as targeting "happy families".
A bill that would allow police to dismantle defences around bikie strongholds also passed the Assembly on Tuesday.
Outlaw motorcycle gang members have allegedly used fortifications to stop police from executing search warrants and the ACT did not have laws authorising police to remove them.
In 2016. police couldn't use traditional methods of forced entry into a bikie clubhouse in Canberra because of heavy steel doors.
In that case, the club rented the property from a private owner, who began eviction proceedings in the magistrate Court with the help of police. However if the club owned the property, the police would have been left powerless to act.
Mr Hanson noted concerns from the scrutiny committee that the owners of the premises would be denied procedural fairness under the laws.
However he accepted a revised explanatory statement on the bill that said the interference to people's privacy would be limited to "necessary" circumstances where the Chief Police Officer needs uninvited access or there are reasonable grounds to believe the premises are linked to criminal activity.
"While not the complete package to deal with this problem [of bikies] it is an important part of the puzzle and we will support it," Mr Hanson said.
Under the new laws, magistrates can provide police with an order to remove a fortification.
The order will remain in place for a year and additional inspection orders can be issued.
If the fortifications are re-added, it could mean a jail sentence of up to two years.
Police can inspect the clubhouse for fortifications for up to three years after the first anti-fortification order.
