Six-month window to work with new Senate

David Leyonhjelm has predicted the government's patience with the new Senate crossbench will only stretch for six months.

The NSW Liberal Democrats senator will be one of 11 crossbenchers in the upper house, which is due to sit on August 30 for the first time since the election.

Adding the nine Greens senators, it is the largest crossbench in history.

In a bid to ensure they can do their jobs properly, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has decided to grant the new senators seven staff and boost the salary of each office's most senior adviser.

But Senator Leyonhjelm says it will be hard for Mr Turnbull to pass laws, especially since the three-member Nick Xenophon Team was more akin to the Greens than the political "centre".

"Frankly, I think this Senate will go for six months, where the government tries things, gets a vote, sees what happens, very little will get through and then they will stop trying," he told Sky News on Tuesday.

The government's strategy would then switch to getting Labor on side.

"Unless Labor supports it, it won't come up," the second-term senator said.

Crossbench senator Derryn Hinch said Mr Turnbull was also appointing a person within the prime minister's office to liaise with the crossbenchers.

Labor leader Bill Shorten said Mr Turnbull should "do his day job" and talk to the crossbenchers himself.

"It shows Mr Turnbull doesn't know how to talk to the crossbench himself and he needs a whole lot of minders to help him do it," Mr Shorten told reporters in Melbourne on Tuesday.

Confirming the seven-staff offer from the prime minister, Senator Leyonhjelm said he did not believe so many advisers were needed.

"My preference would be to save some of the taxpayers' money and not appoint as many," he said.

The Senate will comprise 30 coalition senators, 26 Labor, nine Greens, four One Nation, three NXT and senators Leyonhjelm, Bob Day, Jacqui Lambie and Derryn Hinch.