Gender-diverse Queenslanders will be able to choose an officer to reflect their own identity under legislative reforms for equality and safety during police body searches.
The amendment to the police powers act proposes to afford the LGBTQI community the right to choose the gender of a police officer that best aligns with their gender identity during a search.
It removes the requirement of an officer of the same sex to carry out the search, or the person identifying their gender.
But it keeps gender as the first consideration and gives someone a choice if they prefer an officer of another gender to feel safer.
An example is a transgender man might feel more comfortable being searched by a female officer than a male.
There are limited exceptions to when the choice would be overruled including if police believed it was made in bad faith or where it was not practicably feasible to accommodate.
"This will allow officers to protect the Queensland community while also recognising the diverse needs of members of the public and ensuring the rights and safety of individual officers are protected in the course of their duties," Emergency Services Minister Nikki Boyd, who is acting for the police minister, told parliament on Thursday.
It comes after changes to the Births, Deaths and Marriages Registration Act in 2023 legally recognised a person's sex as the one they deemed the most appropriate and meaningful to them - not just male and female.
Queensland's LGBTI Legal Service told AAP it would continue consulting with the government as the amendments were discussed.
"We want to make sure we get this right," president Matilda Alexander said.
"Everyone can have dignity, safeguards and protections.
"We are seeking enhanced protections for everyone."
She said the amendments were in line with legislation in other states and territories.
University of Queensland's James Fowler said the amendment worked in a perfect world in which a gender-diverse person could choose someone of the same sex to feel the most comfortable.
"In a perfect world, it meets the needs," the mental health and LGBTQI community researcher said.
"In those situations, where it is only three males presenting and a non-binary person asking for a non-binary or female-presenting officer and they're not available, then it is a difficult situation."
The move towards equal treatment in legislation was not the only proposed change to the bill on Thursday.
It also included a review of the parole system for prisoners.
As crime remains a hot topic for many Queenslanders, the legislation would change how long after a prisoner's initial parole application another could be made.
Currently, most prisoners can reapply after six months except for life sentences, when the period is three years.
If the parole board refuses the initial application, life-sentence prisoners would wait five years before reapplying, long-term prisoners would wait three years and all others would wait a year.
"This bill ensures an efficient and effective parole system by reducing unnecessary reapplications so the board can prioritise all the decisions," Ms Boyd said.
It would also prevent the re-traumatisation of victims and their families through repeated parole applications, she said.
The amendments have been tabled in parliament and referred to the Safety and Legal Affairs Committee.
