Brisbane's Catholic Archbishop has hit out at proposed laws that would compel Queensland priests to report the confessions of child abusers.

The state's teachers, doctors, nurses, childcare workers and school principals already have to report crimes against children to authorities, but Archbishop Mark Coleridge says the laws would "limit and unjustly interfere" with the human rights of Catholics.

Brisbane's Archbishop Mark Coleridge says confession encourages true disclosure, "which is the opposite of cover-up". Credit:AP/Alessandra Tarantino

The proposed change is in line with a recommendation stemming from the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse and follows similar moves by other states.

Under the laws, the sanctity of the confessional could not be used as an excuse, defence or privilege.