Mathew Kilkelly says he was saddened, but not surprised, to discover thieves had ripped away hundreds of metres of copper cables from his local football club.

The Samford Rangers Football Club president said he had heard other clubs had recently been targeted by copper thieves, but it was the first time his club was hit.

Mr Kilkelly said the thieves had opened up a cable pit on an oval two weeks ago and tore out the copper cables connecting the floodlights, damaging the equipment in the process.

He said they were speaking with their insurance provider to calculate how much the club would be out of pocket. 

"They do a lot of damage compared to the value they get out of it," Mr Kilkelly said.

"We try to keep our registration fees low so more kids can play football, so this is money we'll have to take from our savings.

The Logan Lightning Football Club was also struck by copper thieves in the early hours of July 27.

President Andrew Birkett said it was bad timing for the club which was due to hold its under 12s twilight carnival that day. 

He said the club had lost thousands of dollars in registration fees, as well as canteen and bar sales.

"When the thieves stole the copper wiring to our fields they also knocked out power to the site, so we couldn't even run our canteen," he said.

"Training for Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday was cancelled on those fields because we couldn't get the lights on."

No definition of scrap metal means no oversight

Moreton Bay Mayor Peter Flannery said Queensland was one of the few states where sellers can walk into a scrap dealer, show no ID, receive cash payment, and walk out.

Under Queensland law there is no ban on scrap-for-cash, no prescriptions on how a dealer must verify a seller's name or address, and no legal definition of what scrap metal even is.

Cr Flannery said the state government had indicated it would reform the sector, but was "dragging its feet" on getting anything done.

"Essentially this legislative oversight has enabled a black market, and we need to close that loophole immediately."

A parliamentary inquiry into scrap metal theft found that unlicensed and illegal scrap metal operators were the significant driving factor behind the black market trade.

It noted there were only 30 licensed scrap metal dealers in the state, but the Waste, Recycling Industry Association estimated there were 300 illegal, unlicensed ones.

The inquiry recommended sweeping reforms to the law as well as a crackdown on illegal dealers and car wrecking yards.

Moreton Bay City Council, in its submission to the inquiry, pushed for Queensland to adopt similar reforms to those implemented in NSW in 2016.

The NSW reforms banned cash for scrap, required all scrap metal traders to register with police, and required dealers to report suspicious activity.

Energy Queensland, a government-owned energy company, has also called for a ban on cash for scrap.

In its submission to the inquiry it noted that the number of copper thefts targeting Energy Queensland infrastructure has increased more than fourfold between 2018 and 2023.

Awaiting government's 'preferred approach'

The government, in its response to the recommendations, said it would "investigate" options to reform the legislative framework.

The government also said it would "consider" a ban on cash for scrap metals which would bring it in line with NSW and Victoria.

Additionally, the government signalled it would speak with interstate counterparts for a joint approach to stop dealers smuggling between borders or exporting overseas.