Civil partnership affirmation ceremonies could be restored in Queensland for couples who want legal recognition of their relationship without getting married.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said Attorney-General Yvette D'ath would introduce a bill to allow couples of any gender and sexual orientation to register their partnership with the Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages.

"We are restoring this right — which was first permitted under a Labor government and then taken away as one of the first acts of the former LNP government — because every Queensland couple should have this right," she said.

"It's time to again allow heterosexual couples who might want to affirm their relationship but not take the step of actually getting married the right to do so.

"It's also time — once again — to allow same-sex couples that same right."

The bill would require cross bench support if it was not supported by the LNP, which in 2012 altered the law so relationships were recognised not as civil partnerships but as registered relationships.

"My government is committed to restoring the civil partnership ceremony provisions so couples of any gender can participate in an official ceremony and declare their dedication to each other," Ms Palaszczuk said.

"These ceremonies and the symbolism they represent are important, particularly to people in same-sex relationships."

The head of the lobby group Australian Marriage Equality, Rodney Croome, said the move would provide same-sex couples with greater legal certainty.

"The Queensland Government's initiative reflects the desire of a majority of Australians to provide dignity where it is denied in the Federal Marriage Act," he said.

"[It] will increase pressure on the Federal Government to provide that dignity through marriage equality."

But Mr Croome said civil partnerships were not a substitute for same-sex marriage.

"Marriage is a universally recognised institution that guarantees equal respect and equal rights in a way civil partnerships cannot," he said.