The Australian Capital Territory (ACT) government will review its child protection law after the territory's government was alerted of a possible breach of the Children and Young People Act.

Between July and August, the ACT's Community Services Directorate asked a welfare group to take in five young children who need emergency care. The group apparently has no proper approval to provide the service.

Community Services Minister Joy Burch said Thursday that the kids were never at risk, but discovery of the possible breach made her ask ACT public service advocate Anita Phillips for a review of the Act and to check all placement of children under the ACT government's care.

Ms Burch disclosed that the group in question appears lacking final approval. Ms Phillips met with ACT officials to discuss their time frame for the review.

The ACT opposition said the incident in an indicator of government mismanagement, particularly problems with procedure.

"One of the first questions I asked the officials was why were these children put in care when this was not a function performed by the agency... The minister's officials couldn't give me an answer except that they were desperate to find somewhere to place these children," opposition spokeswoman Vicki Dunne told ABC News.

Ms Dunne, in her letter to the minister, pointed out that the initial accommodation provided did not have beds, hot running water and adequate power. The facility was a 1950s-era Ginnindera police station managed by another service provider.

"We have been advised that it was an older building but in reasonable condition - there is an occasional power issue and assistance and this may have resulted in an outage and lack of hot water. We have also been advised that assistance was sought to rectify the issue immediately," Ms Burch told The Canberra Times.

Ms Burch has suspended the services of the group, which previously provided ACT other services without any breach of territory laws.

"I would find it totally unacceptable if there has been a breach of the Act, and I have acted promptly to determine how and why compliance appears to have been less than satisfactory," Ms Burch added.

The ACT is not the only one grappling with child agency problems. The Victoria Community Services Ministry published on Thursday in the state's Department of Human Services' website a Category One incident on the death of five children under care of child protection agencies.

The five are just among the 27 children who died in the past 12 months under the care of child protection workers or soon after leaving their care. Another 583 children in Victoria considered most vulnerable and disadvantaged suffered assault or attacks while under their care during the past year.

"These figures reflect the impact and extent of abuse and neglect and underline why as a government we are committed to improving the outcomes for vulnerable children," Victoria's Community Services Minister Mary Wooldridge told the Herald Sun.