The 40-year-old public servant was charged with one count of using a carriage service to access the material and one count of possessing the material.

In granting bail with strict conditions, Magistrate James Lawton said there was no evidence the man had interfered with his own children, he did not have a criminal history and had made a full admission.

Court documents said police identified the man after the ACT Joint Anti-Child Exploitation Team tracked his internet use, which showed his internet account, shared with his wife, was used to access child abuse material.

Police searched the man's Evatt home on Friday, finding a personal laptop which contained files that included high-level child abuse material.

According to court documents, the man told police he was the sole owner and user of the laptop and had been accessing the material for about a decade.

He told police he looked at the material several times a week for sexual gratification and stress relief, which he said he felt awful about and knew it was illegal.

Prosecutor Elizabeth West told the court no bail conditions would be strict enough to prevent man offending again given the "simplistic and easy process he uses to access the material".

"There's nothing to stop him from having access to other people's devices," Ms West said.

"Technology is everywhere."

Ms West said the man had told police his access of child abuse material had recently escalated and he had described it as an "addiction".

On bail, the man must not be alone with anyone under the age of 16, not access the internet except at work and must report daily to police and abide by an overnight curfew in Ngunnawal.

He was told if he breached the conditions he should expect to be taken into custody.

The man will next appear in court in late March.