PM offered new race hate law 'pub test'

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has been offered a way forward on potential changes to racial discrimination laws based on what the average person thinks.

A proposal to reform section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act includes a "reasonable person" test, meaning people would have to prove any so-called offensive behaviour breached the standards of ordinary Australians.

"It is a win-win situation. It would act to eliminate frivolous action but also protect Australians from vicious racial vilification," Liberal MP and International Development Minister Concetta Fierravanti-Wells wrote in The Australian on Tuesday.

Labor frontbencher Matt Thistlethwaite said the opposition does not see the need to change 18C.

"I believe that it works well. I believe that it serves a purpose of generating racial harmony, promoting diversity and multiculturalism in our community," he told Sky News.