Labor MP Julian Hill has urged the federal government to follow Victoria's lead in restricting how much parties advertise outside polling booths in order to limit "enormously wasteful" plastic materials.

The recommendation has been made to a parliamentary inquiry into the 2019 federal election, which also received a call from senior Liberal Kevin Andrews to ban non-candidate volunteers from organisations such as GetUp from manning polling booths.

Signage outside a Sydney polling booth in the May election. Credit:Louise Kennerley

The proposals join a long line of suggested reforms that will be examined by the inquiry, including a call to cut the pre-polling period to one week and the recommendation that voters present ID when casting their ballots.

"Plastic bunting is enormously wasteful and has led to a ridiculous arms race between parties," Mr Hill wrote in his submission. "Banning bunting, and limiting the number of political signs at voting booths, also removed the perceived need for volunteers to spend all night staking out and fighting over the 'best locations'".