RAPE support bodies are urging the Queensland taxi industry to install panic buttons after several reports of sexual assault in the past few months.

In Brisbane, one cabbie was charged with sexual assault, assault with intent to rape and deprivation of liberty of a woman in her 20s on her way home after a night out.

Another was charged with the sexual assault of a teenager after picking her up in the city centre.

A third driver was charged with two counts of sexual assault and one each of rape, common assault and entering a dwelling with intent to commit an offence.

"Sexual assaults in taxis are not isolated to Brisbane - we have the same issues in Townsville," said Cathy Crawford, of the far north city's Women's Centre.

"GPS and surveillance cameras are great if not tampered with, but the button in the back seat in reach of the passenger would bring more of a sense of security. Young women are drinking more alcohol these days ... they are more vulnerable," she said.

Tracey Shannon from Kangaroo Point, in Brisbane's inner city, said: "I know that I would feel a lot better if there was a panic button in the back seat of cabs.

"Most cab drivers are great but sometimes at night I do feel a little wary hopping in one by myself."

The Brisbane Rape and Incest Survivors Support Centre's Anna Gilet is also in favour of the panic button. "When you climb into the back seat of a cab with a stranger, it can be very isolating," she said.

"Anything that empowers a woman as she travels at night on her own has got to be a positive."

But the Cab Drivers' Association of Queensland state secretary Lee Sims insisted that costly panic buttons and hi-tech gadgets only increased fares.

He said it would be better to bring back "some common sense and trust into the industry and ensure the people driving the cabs are expertly vetted and trained".

Mr Sims said he backed the findings of the recent report on the taxi industry by Workplace Rights Ombudsman Don Brown, who criticised the state's cab companies for failing to maintain consumer standards.