But the use of the new powers won't go unchecked after the Opposition successfully pushed for the government to publish regular updates about their use.

The Liberals also secured support from Labor and the Greens to establish a Legislative Assembly committee to scrutinise the government's response to the twin health and economic crises.

The so-called COVID-19 Emergency Response Bill, which passed late on Thursday afternoon, tweaked 20 pieces of legislation to allow the justice system and government agencies to function amid new restrictions aimed at slowing the spread of the virus.

Chief Minister Andrew Barr said the changes were "crucial and urgent to support the ACT's operational response to the pandemic".

The bill included changes to the territory's residential tenancy laws, which will ensure the ACT government can quickly implement national cabinet moves to protect renters.

It places restrictions on the sale of firearms amid the emergency and amends a range of court procedures. Controversially, it will pave the way for "judge-only" trials in criminal cases.

READ MORE:

The package also included a number of changes to gaming laws, including provisions for clubs to count the payment of the award wage to their staff as a community contribution.

Each amendment includes a "sunset clause", which means they will be phased out after the coronavirus emergency ends.

The Opposition supported the new powers, but not before raising concerns about the scope of the changes and the fact that they would not be subject to normal Legislative Assembly oversight.

To ensure some scrutiny, Opposition Leader Alistair Coe called for government ministers to publish monthly updates on how the new measures were being applied.

"This would allow the Assembly to monitor the effectiveness of the measures and the impact they are having on the community," he said.

"We of course recognise the rapidly evolving nature of this public health situation and we know that significant decisions need to be made. But we are firmly of the view that significant decisions need significant scrutiny.

"The ACT government has essentially written into this legislation unchecked regulations. There is zero transparency written into the legislation as it stands right now."

In a show of bipartisanship, Mr Barr supported Mr Coe's proposal, saying it was important for the emergency measures to be scrutinised.

"No one wants to be in this position of having to have these measures in place. This is not the government's choice. We are not here debating this legislation because we really want to impose these restrictions on people.

"I would hope none of these extreme measures that have been put in place by Australian governments would ever be in place in a normal circumstances."

Greens leader Shane Rattenbury also supported the transparency push.

"In these challenging times, democracy is more important than ever," Mr Rattenbury said.

Our COVID-19 news articles relating to public health and safety are free for anyone to access. However, we depend on subscription revenue to support our journalism. If you are able, please subscribe here. If you are already a subscriber, thank you for your support. If you're looking to stay up to date on COVID-19, you can also sign up for our twice-daily digest here