Brisbane City Council will crack down on cemetery tour operators to ensure they contributed to the upkeep of many of the city's early residents' final resting places.

The establishment of a new cemeteries restoration trust was approved in Tuesday's council meeting at City Hall and community services chairman Matthew Bourke said all tour operators would be required to pay an annual fee of $800 into that trust.

Tour groups will be charged $800 a year to show people through Brisbane's historic cemeteries. Credit:Glenn Hunt

Payments up until now, Cr Bourke said, had been "sporadic", with some operators not paying any money at all.

"We had a number of groups and tours that have been operating for some time, but also work that we need to do to historical graves in those nine cemeteries," he said.