Conservative members of the upper house have been refusing to stand for the Acknowledgment of Country at the opening of the house's sessions, while calls are gaining momentum to drop the Lord's Prayer from the beginning of the day's deliberations, breaking with a century of tradition.

The prayer has opened each session of State Parliament since 1918 but has been supplemented in recent years by a recitation of the acknowledgement.

But now the issue has pitted controversial Liberal backbencher Bernie Finn and his colleague Gordon Rich-Phillips against the Reason Party's Fiona Patten, who is unhappy with the refusal of the two Liberals to join the rest of the chamber in standing for the acknowledgment.

Mr Finn's religious convictions put him at the centre of a political storm a year ago when he and a colleague cited their faiths while asking for an exemption from a marathon debate that stretched into good Friday, before the pair reneged on the deal, reappearing in the chamber to vote and sinking Labor's bitterly contested fire services reforms.

Mr Rich-Phillips stood for the acknowledgment on Tuesday, with The Age's camera in the chamber, but has usually joined Mr Finn in remaining seated during the recitation.

Neither man has responded to request for comment.

Ms Patten's push to drop the Lord's Prayer is now gaining traction, with the idea referred to the house's procedures committee, and Premier Daniel Andrews indicating on Wednesday morning that he was open to change.

Ms Patten described the referral to the committee as a major step forward.

"It’s high time we found an alternative, such as moving the Acknowledgement of Country to the opening of Parliament every day," she said.

"Victoria is built on diversity and multiculturalism, from the 38 Indigenous clans of Victoria, to the peoples displaced by world wars and global conflicts, all who call Victoria home.

"This is a secular society and most religious people I speak to are surprised to find out that this is how we start every day here.

"Removing the Lord’s Prayer is a nod to how diverse the Victorian Parliament is."

Mr Andrews said on Wednesday that Parliament might consider rotating the prayer each day to acknowledge the different faith communities of Victoria.