Labor's federal election autopsy has identified former leader Bill Shorten's unpopularity and a lack of political strategy as two of the causes of the party's shock loss.

Key points: Labor has released a review into the loss in the May election

Labor has released a review into the loss in the May election It found Labor was blindsided by Scott Morrison becoming Liberal leader

It found Labor was blindsided by Scott Morrison becoming Liberal leader Former leader Bill Shorten concedes he would do things differently if he had his time again

Former South Australian premier Jay Weatherill and former trade minister Craig Emerson have spent months investigating the defeat, and in a final report made public today they make 26 recommendations for the ALP to take to the next election.

The review found Labor's strategy was unable to respond to Scott Morrison becoming Liberal leader and offered a "cluttered policy agenda that looked risky" to voters.

The Coalition, which has changed its leader three times since coming to power in 2013, was widely tipped to lose the May election having fallen into minority government months out from the poll.

However, it regained majority government as Labor's primary vote fell to 33 per cent, with sharp falls among blue-collar workers.

Space to play or pause, M to mute, left and right arrows to seek, up and down arrows for volume. Watch Duration: 2 minutes 23 seconds 2 m 23 s Penny Wong on Labor's election review

Mr Shorten stepped down as Labor leader after overseeing two election losses during his six years in charge. Long-serving frontbencher Anthony Albanese replaced him as leader after an uncontested ballot.

The architects of the review said Labor presented a public policy agenda that frightened the very people it was trying to support.

Mr Weatherill said low-income voters in outer urban areas swung away from Labor, even though the party's policies were aimed directly at them.

"Sadly for us, at this election, we presented a public policy agenda that paradoxically frightened the very people we were trying to support," he said.

"It was regarded as too complex, it was regarded as not persuasive."

The review recommended as well as broadening its base among low-income working families, the party shore-up support among regional and rural Australians and Christians "particularly devout, first-generation migrant Christians" who had moved away from the party.

Bill Shorten stepped down as Labor leader after May's federal election loss. ( ABC News: Matt Roberts )

Calls to yoke jobs and climate change together

The party elders have urged Labor to position itself as a party of economic growth and job creation.

"Labor should adopt the language of inclusion, recognising the contribution of small and large businesses to economic prosperity, and abandon derogatory references to 'the big end of town'," the review states.

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"A modern Labor Party cannot neglect human-induced climate change. To do so would be environmentally irresponsible and a clear electoral liability.

"Labor needs to increase public awareness of the costs of inaction on climate change, respect the role of workers in fossil fuel industries and support job opportunities in emissions-reducing industries while taking the pressure off electricity prices."

Shortly before the report's release, Mr Shorten conceded he would do things differently if he had his time again.

He said he would campaign with fewer messages, emphasise the job opportunities linked to renewable energy, and take a different position on franking credits.

"There are many players on a team but as captain of that team I accept responsibility for the policies taken to the election," he said in a written statement.

"But we must learn the lessons of defeat. And while the review has not considered or reviewed the merit of those policies, it is important the party does."

Mr Shorten has remained on Labor's frontbench in Opposition, taking on the National Disability Insurance Scheme portfolio.

The review also pointed to the "large size and targeted nature" of United Australia Party leader Clive Palmer's campaign against Labor, saying it had a significant negative effect on Mr Shorten's popularity and on Labor's primary vote.

"This is a serious threat to democracy, that one individual could have such a profound effect on the share of voice of a major party in that way," Mr Weatherill said.

"We do recommend there are spending caps in relation to high-net-worth individuals who make contributions in election campaigns."

Cathy O'Toole lost her regional Queensland seat amid criticism for Labor's approach to the Adani coalmine. ( ABC News: Nick Haggarty )

Review finds Labor should have focused on leader change

The review found Labor failed to capitalise on Mr Morrison becoming Prime Minister and should have persisted with a high-profile campaign against Coalition disunity.

It said Labor's repeated attacks on "the big end of town", a criticism associated with Malcolm Turnbull, had failed to recognise it was contending with a new PM.

"Labor entered the 2019 federal election campaign with the same approach it had developed before the change of Liberal leadership in August 2018 and the federal Budget in 2019," the report states.

"As Sun Tzu said in The Art of War, 'The opportunity of defeating the enemy is provided by the enemy himself''."

Dr Emerson and Mr Weatherill dissected Labor's efforts in by-elections, and the Victorian state election, in the lead-up to the federal poll.

They found Labor was tipped to struggle to retain the seats of Batman, Braddon and Longman but ultimately went on to safe wins, which they attributed to strong candidates.

Similarly, Labor in Victoria was facing reports it might slip into minority government but went on to win 57 per cent of the two-party preferred vote.

Those victories fuelled a myth that Labor had a better ground game and social media strategy than the Coalition, something the report said proved incorrect and led to a lack of querying of Labor's strategy and policy agenda.

The Labor reviewers contrasted that with the federal Opposition heading into the election with 56 consecutive Newspolls putting the ALP in an election-winning position.

They found the Opposition's strong performance in the 2016 election had further fuelled expectations that Labor would win the 2019 poll.

The review argued the expectation of a Labor win meant it faced greater scrutiny for its policies than it otherwise would. That was compounded by how progressive advocacy groups campaigned ahead of the poll, according to the review.

"Almost the whole of the progressive movement had factored in a Labor victory," the report states.

"This meant much of their campaign effort was devoted to securing Labor's commitment to policies they could later claim as Labor's mandate, rather than defeating the Government.

"This had the effect of broadening the range of policies Labor had on offer."

Mr Shorten started the election campaign in a safe Liberal eastern Melbourne seat the party ultimately failed to win.

That strategy of targeting too many seats was criticised in the report, which argued it spread resources thin and diluted the impact of the campaign.

The Labor autopsy has taken aim at Clive Palmer's influence on the election outcome. ( ABC News: Matt Roberts )

Tax policies were ripe for Coalition attack

One characteristic of the campaign was the backlash Labor faced from older Australians who feared the party's franking credits policies would cost them thousands of dollars.

The Coalition dubbed it a "retiree tax". Labor planned to allow shareholders to reduce their tax with franking credits, but said it would stop giving cash refunds for excess credits.

But the review found that Labor's tax policies had not cost the party the election.

"The size and complexity of Labor's spending announcements, totalling more than $100 billion, drove its tax policies and exposed Labor to a Coalition attack that fuelled anxieties among insecure, low-income couples in outer-urban and regional Australia that Labor would crash the economy and risk their jobs," the review states.

Tanya Plibersek stood down as Labor's deputy leader after the election loss. ( ABC News: Nick Haggarty )

The review found Labor's advertising program lacked a "clear strategy" and was crowded out by the "magnitude of Clive Palmer's expenditure".

It found a reluctance to embrace digital-first campaigning left Labor "flat-footed and falling behind its opponents".

Despite a 160 per cent boost in funding for digital ads, the party's online performance went backwards.

"Labor's digital campaign in 2016 was superior to the Coalition's but by 2019 it was inferior to the Coalition's and that of its allies," the report states.

The report criticised Labor for not having enough women in the core campaign team ( ABC News: Matt Roberts )

The authors blamed a lack of digital literacy in the party's senior ranks meant the digital campaign was viewed as an add-on, rather than a core advertising platform.

"Labor faces an urgent need to dramatically improve its digital campaigning capability … to be more agile and effective in countering disinformation on digital platforms of its political rivals."

The review also found that Labor did not effectively counter disinformation about "death taxes" online, required better coordination between national, state and local campaigns, and needed to address the under-representation of women in the core campaign team.