Voters could go to the polls later in the year under a new Senate voting system which ends backroom preference deals but favours major parties.
Changes to the way senators are elected will put power back into the hands of voters and end backroom preference deals, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull says.
The government is rushing legislation into parliament on Monday that will allow voters to cast preferences above the line on Senate ballot papers.
Voters now can only validly put a "1" in a box, with preferences flowing via a group voting ticket lodged by a candidate or party.
These preference flows are determined by deals done between parties and, in more recent times, so-called preference whisperers working with micro-parties.
Under the proposed system, which Mr Turnbull wants in place for the next election, voters will be able to cast preferences up to the number of Senate vacancies being filled in their state or territory.
"What these changes will do, what they seek to do, is to ensure that Australian voters determine where their Senate votes go," Mr Turnbull told reporters in Canberra.
The Greens have given their in-principle support but are waiting to see the details.
Labor senator Sam Dastyari described it as "complete rort".
"The Senate is a better place when more diverse voices are being heard," he said.
Mr Turnbull said the 2013 Senate election result had been widely criticised because some senators won their seats with less than one per cent of the primary vote.
