Vic sex offenders to give DNA and prints

Every person on the sex offenders register will have to give their DNA and fingerprints over the next three years, under new powers given to Victoria Police.

Through changes to the Sex Offender Registration Act, police will be able to force registered offenders to give their DNA and fingerprints, without a court order, to catalogue information about those on the register.

"DNA is the most effective tool, much more effective than fingerprints, and it will help to solve sex offending crime," Police Minister Lisa Neville told reporters on Thursday.

"(It) gives police three years to fill in those gaps and make sure we have every single sex offender with DNA and fingerprints collected in Victoria."

Police will also be able to search registered sex offenders and their homes to ensure compliance with their reporting obligations and demand online passwords.

Teenagers aged 18 and 19, who have been involved in a consensual relationship with a person who was 14 or above, can apply to be exempt from being named on the register.

The parents of a Victorian 18-year-old man who had sex with his girlfriend who he believed was aged 16, not 14, say this change would give their son his life back.

Opposition leader Matthew Guy said he needed to see more detail about the plan but signalled his support for the law changes.