An increase in the number of politicians would improve democracy but skepticism remains on whether territories should gain more senators, an inquiry has heard.
Electoral experts on Friday discussed the viability of current representation in parliament at a hearing of the committee examining the 2022 federal election.
While opinions differed on whether the territories should gain more senators, there was general agreement on raising numbers in the lower house.
The ACT and Northern Territory are represented by two senators each while all states are represented by 12.
Electoral analyst Ben Raue believes enlarging parliament will better represent the country, and is overdue with the last happening almost 40 years ago.
"It is good for democracy ... It brings voters closer to their representatives. It gives them more options in parliament, more MPs to express their views," Mr Raue said.
The analyst said there was value in looking to expand Senate representation in the territories to three or four members, and at the idea of having 14 senators for each state.
"There's also advantages for the way that the Senate operates if you were to elect at least seven members per state (at a half-Senate election) in terms of it being less likely to have deadlocks," he said.
Tasmanian psephologist Kevin Bonham was in favour of lifting the number of MPs, saying it would reduce the over-representation of Tasmania and the NT when it comes to the ratio of electors to each MP.
He told the inquiry increasing the number of state senators would improve representation since smaller parties would have a better chance of election.
However, Dr Bonham remains cautious about having more territory senators, saying it could lead to some electors wielding more political capital than others.
He concedes the territories had an "impoverished form of representation", forcing voters to consider their vote strategically with the ACT now not having any coalition senator or MP.
Charles Sturt University's Brendan Long looked at the case for increasing the number of senators in the territories, from the perspective of Indigenous representation specifically in the NT.
The territory's two senators currently represent 26,000 Indigenous electors each, compared to 15,000 Indigenous electors per senator in NSW, 12,000 in Queensland and fewer than 10,000 Indigenous people per senator in other states.
"Indigenous voters in the NT are not just less enfranchised than other voters, but they're particularly less enfranchised relative to other Indigenous persons throughout the country," Dr Long said.
ACT independent senator David Pocock wants territories to be represented by six senators and have their terms doubled to six years.
