Laws to make it harder for people to get away with drink spiking in Canberra will soon be introduced into the ACT Legislative Assembly.
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ACT Attorney-General Gordon Ramsay will bring forward legislation in the coming months which could see the ACT aligned more closely with NSW in the way it deals with drink spiking.
"At the moment, the law doesn't broadly target people who try to drug or intoxicate others without them knowing or agreeing," a spokeswoman for Mr Ramsay said.
"Instead the current legislation varies greatly depending on the kind of drug a person uses, and the circumstances in which it is given.
"The new provisions will better address the dangerous behaviour of drink spiking irrespective of what is used."
The flaw in the current laws was exposed when Sydney man Juswan Mokmargana, 46, spiked a woman's drink with two tablets of Stilnox while she was away from the table at a Canberra pub in April 2016.
Condoms, Viagra and sleeping drugs were later found in the man's suitcase, and prosecutors argued the drink spiking was part of a plan to rape the woman. But a jury found him not guilty of attempted rape
After the trial Mokmargana admitted putting the drugs in the woman's drink - a crime under medicines and poisons laws that carries a one year maximum penalty - and he was handed a suspended sentence of six months jail for the crime. In sentencing the man, the judge found the purpose of administering the drug was to render the woman into an at least drowsy state and to take advantage of her.
Prosecutors in the case had noted the ACT, unlike NSW, did not have an offence that would broadly encompass an offence of drink spiking with the intent to commit a serious crime.
The incoming law was one of several pieces of upcoming legislation ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr foreshadowed on Tuesday.
A bill will be introduced next month to make Reconciliation Day a public holiday in the ACT. The new public holiday will take the place of Family and Community Day.
The government will also introduce laws that will give police the power to strip fortifications from bikie clubhouses to execute search warrants.
Police and government officials will also continue talks about introducing firearm prohibition orders and new crime scene powers.
"Crime scene powers would expedite the ability of ACT Police to secure and investigate a crime scene while Firearms Prohibition Orders would allow an order to be given to anyone who is deemed unfit to possess a firearm," a spokesman for Mr Barr said.
Mr Barr also alluded to stronger laws around dangerous dogs but another spokesman was unable to provide any detail until next month.
With Alexandra Back
