Changes to parliament question time

Changes to question time in federal parliament will only apply to government members, the prime minister says.

Malcolm Turnbull announced on Tuesday that from November 9 coalition backbenchers could use the second half of question time to ask ministers their own "constituency questions".

The format, which will be trialled until the end of the year, will mirror that used in the British House of Commons.

It's unclear whether Labor will adopt the same approach.

Mr Turnbull told parliament the object of question time should be to ensure local members can raise "bread and butter issues" of concern in their electorates.

"Opposition members can do whatever they like - they can continue asking questions written for them by the leader of the opposition's staff," he said.

The change - which will wind back the overuse of pre-written "dorothy dixer" questions - was proposed by Leader of the House Christopher Pyne two years ago.

Manager of opposition business Tony Burke said it appeared to be a change to government tactics, not a change to parliamentary rules.

"If this results in fewer theatrical performances from ministers reading from carefully scripted attacks, no one would object to this," Mr Burke said.

"We must not see a decrease in transparency and Labor will be following this closely."