Police Minister Mark Ryan introduced a new bill on November 29 which would allow police to demand passwords and access codes for electronic devices from reportable offenders where there was a suspicion that an offence had occurred.

The law would cover reportable offenders who have been released from government detention or sentenced to a supervision order in the preceding three months, convicted of a prescribed internet offence or having been assessed as posing an increased risk of re-offending.

Reportable offenders include people who have been convicted of child sex offences and who are required to report to police.

Queensland Council for Civil Liberties president Michael Cope said he believed the "right to silence" was a fundamental right.

"Our concern is that this is a starting point, for there will no doubt become demands for this to be extended to all sorts of other areas," Mr Cope said.

Mr Cope said people would likely say reportable offenders were an "appropriate case" for the measures.

"But we would say it doesn't matter who it is, but even if you do think this is an appropriate case, the problem is that whenever they do this in one particular area, inevitably there will be demand for it to be applied more generally," he said.

The bill proposes that police would be required to make a post approval application to a magistrate.

Police officers who are responsible for managing reportable offenders - or have been authorised by the police commissioner - will be able to exercise the powers.

Failing to comply with the order would result in a penalty of up to five years' jail.

But Mr Ryan said the bill was about protecting the most vulnerable people in our society - children.

"There is no proposal for these powers to be extended at the current time.

"This legislation is specifically targeted at people who have committed heinous crimes against children.

"If these changes mean reportable offenders lose a little bit of privacy for our children's safety, then I'm fine with that.

"If these offenders haven't committed any further offences, they should be fine with that, too."

Mr Ryan said the powers would be available for a restricted number of senior detectives responsible for the monitoring of offender reporting.

He said police would make an application for approval to a magistrate afterwards, rather than before, to "prevent the loss, concealment or destruction of evidence of the abuse of children".

Last week, Mr Ryan said that the Child Protection (Offender Reporting) and Other Legislation Amendment Bill was designed to give police enhanced powers to intervene before sexual offences were committed against a child.

Queensland Law Society president Bill Potts said the law had to keep pace not only with social change, but technological change.

"In this particular case, the passwords for mobile phone devices and computers are in fact similar to the key to the door of a house where an offence may have been committed," Mr Potts said.

Mr Potts said the Crime and Corruption Commission already had powers to ask people for access to computers.

"So they're an extension of that power to police... Provided there are checks and balances, there's no fundamental objection to such a law," he said.

Mr Potts said he supported the powers being reviewable by the court.

The bill was referred to the Legal Affairs and Community Safety Committee.