A free press would be enshrined in the constitution under a minor party proposal introduced to federal parliament.
Centre Alliance MP Rebekha Sharkie introduced the private members' bill to the lower house on Monday, saying freedom of expression must be protected by the constitution.
"The proposal would put a constitutional brake on efforts to suppress the freedom of expression to the detriment of our democratic and open society," she told parliament.
Ms Sharkie described the recent federal police raids on the ABC and the home of a News Corp journalist as a "blast of Arctic air for Australia's fourth estate".
"It sent a clear message to the media and their sources they are at serious risk if they publish information the government doesn't want them to publish, even if that information is in the public interest," she said.
Ms Sharkie's Centre Alliance colleagues in the Senate have introduced mirroring legislation in the upper house.
The South Australian said freedom of expression wasn't embedded in the constitution because the nation's founders believed common sense would prevail.
But a constitutional right was important, particularly given public trust in politicians was at an all-time low.
Tasmanian independent lower house MP Andrew Wilkie supported her bill, describing a free press as an "essential building block of a healthy democracy".
