Queensland firefighters who develop cancers and other diseases can more easily access compensation under new laws passed by the State Parliament last week.

If a firefighter develops one of 12 specified cancers and meets the qualifying period for active service, the disease is now deemed work-related.

Minister for Industrial Relations Curtis Pitt says the legislation gives firefighters greater certainty about their workers’ compensation coverage for latent-onset diseases.

The reforms are designed to improve the common law rights of all current and former firefighters injured or diagnosed with cancers. They cover permanent, auxiliary and volunteer crew.

Mr Pitt says firefighters will no longer have the burden of having to prove their cancer is a result of their work.

The amendments are modelled on similar laws in other states.

Mr Pitt says they also strengthen firefighters’ privacy, by removing the requirement for prospective employers to access a workers’ compensation claim history.