The government will not be releasing the Child Registry to the public as the Child Act 2001 only allows access through a request to the social welfare director-general.

"According to provisions in the Child Act 2001, access to the Child Registry is given through a request to the social welfare director-general and the information will then be sent directly to the applicant.

"As such, the details of the offender convicted of crimes against children cannot be published for the public," Women, Family and Community Development Minister Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail said in a written parliamentary reply.

Kasthuri Patto (Harapan-Batu Kawan) had asked Wan Azizah about the status of the Child Register, and why the list had not been made available to the public.

The minister also revealed that there are 536 names on the register thus far.

She noted that adding more information to the registry would require cooperation between the police and the courts, specifically information on convicted offenders.

"To increase the efficiency of adding more information to the Child Registry, several series of discussions with the police and the courts have been held to standardise information available to the police and the courts with the registry," she said.

The Child Registry is a database of information on child sex offenders, which was set up under the Child Act (Amendment) 2016.

Previously, Deputy Women, Family and Community Development Minister Hannah Yeoh said the ministry was looking to amend the Child Act to further empower the registry.

This would include making registration of child sex offenders to the Child Register automatic, she said.