A Child Registry will be set up under the Child (Amendment) Bill to include lists of paedophiles, rapists and child abusers, for members of the public to use this information when hiring staff or placing their children under nursery care.

This was revealed by Zahida Zakaria, the legal adviser for Women, Family and Community Development Ministry, at a media briefing on the proposed amendment bill today.

The ministry would gather the information on convictions for sexual crimes and child abuse cases from the courts and list this in the registry.

"We will get the data on convictions from the courts and the police," Zahida said during a question-and-answer session.

The data will also include all child-related offences, she added.

The bill was tabled in Parliament for first reading on Dec 2 last year and is slated for debate and approval by the House at the next session, which commences in March.

"For instance, I want to open a nursery and want to hire some staff. I can then call the ministry to check if the applicant has an record of offence against children," said S Waithchalla, secretary of the ministry’s policy division.

"We want to make sure anyone who is involved in the care of children are free from any offences against children," Waithchalla said.

The ministry has initiated a major review to the Child Act 2001, which involved a change of 70 percent content of the existing law.

The event was also attended by minister Rohani Abdul Karim, and deputy ministers Chew Mei Fun and Azizah Mohd Dun.

Besides introducing the Child Registry, the ministry also wants to abolish the caning of child offenders and change to a maximum 120 hours under the Community Service Orders (CSO).

The CSO is also imposed on parents and guardians who neglect their children. They will have to undergo a maximum of 360 hours of community service.

The ministry is currently on a roadshow to engage with the community, including NGOs and members of the public, on the proposed changes to the Child Act.

The bill also proposes that two children be appointed to the National Council for Children, an entity set up to come up with suggestions for the government.

The bill also outlines a better plan for the ministry to save and relocate abused children by putting them under temporary shelter for 30 days.

Meanwhile, Zahida said the ministry did not include child marriage under the bill as this matters falls under the purview of Islamic Family Law for Muslims and the Law Reform (Marriage and Divorce) Act.

"We do not address this (child marriage), as the laws are well regulated," said Zahida.

She also said the ministry would not take in children whose parents are involved in an interfaith custodial dispute in both the civil and syariah courts.

She said this when asked if the amended bill addresses matters as proposed by inspector-general of police Khalid Abu Bakar in 2014.

"If the court already has given custody to one of the parents, then the ministry will not appear (step in)," she said.