The move will effectively force the government to show its hand on the measures, which would abolish group voting tickets and introduce optional preferential voting above the line for Senate elections.

The overhaul was recommended by the Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters in a bid to end the complex preference deals that have seen senators such as the Motoring Enthusiasts' Ricky Muir elected despite receiving only a tiny portion of first preference votes.

The Australian Greens National Council unanimously agreed at the weekend to a motion from the Greens' party room pushing for urgent voting reforms to "improve our democracy".

The Greens will introduce a bill to Parliament in the August sittings if the government does not introduce a bill of its own.

The move could force the government to confront the issue although it does not at present have plans to bring a bill to Parliament.

The government intends to introduce similar legislation in the life of this parliament and it is understood that when it does an election will be just around the corner because of the deleterious impact the bill will have on government relations with the cross bench.

Cross benchers have warned the government will lose their support if a bill that threatens their existence is introduced.

Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) officials told a meeting of the Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters last week that if such measures were passed immediately before an election the AEC would not have the time to implement them unless it had extra resources.

Greens democracy spokeswoman Lee Rhiannon said abolishing group voting tickets would protect the rights of small parties to run for Parliament and empower voters to control their preferences.

"The Australian Greens have renewed our commitment to outlawing secretive and complex backroom preference deals by abolishing group voting tickets in the Senate," Senator Rhiannon said.

"We are committed to working with all parties to reform our Senate voting system to give voters confidence that what they mark on the ballot paper is reflected in the Parliament."

There is division among Labor senators about whether to support such a bill, with some senior figures fearful it will deliver the Coalition an advantage.

Fairfax Media reported last month Leader of the Opposition in the Senate, Penny Wong, her deputy Stephen Conroy and Senator Sam Dastyari were opposed to the reforms despite support for them from Labor MPs on the committee Gary Gray and Alan Griffin.

Senator Dastyari last month said the measures were "madness" and would see power in the upper house delivered to conservatives.

But the Greens said modelling by the Parliamentary Library showed there was no evidence the Coalition would benefit more from Senate voting reform.