The Australian Greens want parliamentary oversight of trade agreement negotiations and approval of deals before they're signed.
The Greens would also ban investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) clauses in trade deals, which allow foreign corporations to sue the Australian government for losses due to the agreements.
In the minor party's latest policy announcement, the Greens vow to put an end to Australia's involvement in the "secret" Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement - signed between 12 countries, including the United States.
Despite former prime minister John Howard omitting an ISDS from the free trade agreement with the US, the Greens say American corporations would be able to use the TPP to sue the government.
The TPP undermines the functioning of democracy, the party believes.
"A fundamental problem with trade deals is that the benefits are not distributed equally," the party's policy document says.
So the party wants an independent economic evaluation process put in place to inform government of disproportionate impacts of trade deals.
"The Liberals promised rivers of gold would flow from their trade deals but the rivers ran dry. Australia has had a period of record trade deficits," Greens trade spokesman Peter Whish-Wilson said.
The party is also concerned trade deals were creating two sets of workplace laws and taking away employees' rights, particularly with the China free trade agreement.
"Every single agreement of this kind that Australia has signed has eroded our ability to have local procurement policies ... to support local jobs and industries," Greens industrial relations spokesman Adam Bandt said.
