Don't worry about me, says Labor's Leigh

Labor MP Andrew Leigh has insisted there are families worse off than him while playing down his appointment as an unpaid opposition frontbencher.

Dr Leigh, along with Sam Dastyari, will remain on a backbencher's salary of $199,000 despite being one of Labor's 32 shadow ministers - two more than can be funded under parliamentary rules.

"Let's not worry about people in the top couple of per cent of the income distribution. We're doing just fine," he told ABC radio on Monday.

"There are families in Australia today that are struggling to afford to buy Christmas presents for their kids, struggling to afford to be able to get to the doctor, there's people who slept homeless last night."

Dr Leigh, who is Labor's assistant treasury spokesman and spokesman for competition and productivity, and Senator Dastyari, were left out of the top 30 in a reshuffle unveiled by Opposition Leader Bill Shorten on the weekend.

The Canberra MP paid the price for a factional deal that enabled veteran senator Kim Carr to retain his place on the frontbench.