Labor frontbenchers back union reform

The Labor Party is mature enough to debate whether its ties with the union movement should be overhauled, frontbencher Chris Bowen says.

At present the ALP - which is a federation of state branches - requires new members to also be members of their relevant union or if they are an employer to "actively encourage trade union membership".

State branch conferences, which develop policy, comprise 50 per cent union representatives and 50 per cent members from various electorates.

The branches and national executive are looking at their rules after former leader Kevin Rudd's call for reform last year, which began with the first grassroots ballot for the election of a federal parliamentary leader.

Opposition Leader Bill Shorten added his weight to the debate last week, saying the party - which grew out of the labour movement's formation in the 1890s - should review its relationship with unions and aim to double its membership to 100,000 over time.

Shadow treasurer Chris Bowen said change was needed to ensure the party was "big, broad, open and inclusive".

"Part of that is union representation ... (and) the Labor Party is mature enough and sensible enough to have these sort of discussions," Mr Bowen said.

Another Labor frontbencher, David Feeney, said the priority should be boosting party membership.

"I think in order to complete that ambition - and it's a good ambition for us to have - we need to be thinking innovatively about how our party structures, tailored for a bygone era, now need to adapt to social media, people more pressed for time in their personal life," he said.

"The trade union connection is an important one for Labor but, as always, we must be more diverse in order to fulfil our charter, which is running for elections, winning elections and governing well."

He told ABC radio if union membership was perceived to be a barrier to some people joining, "let's remove it".