A federal Labor MP has joined calls for broad reform to the party including letting members have more say in selecting political candidates, the movement's policies and the leader.

Victorian left-winger Andrew Giles, who joined Parliament at the last election, says the key to broadening the party's membership base is to let them have more of a say in the party's direction.

"We're at a point where we've got to adapt," Mr Giles told the ABC's Capital Hill program.

"Times have changed and the Labor Party has got to change with the times."

Mr Giles says cutting ties with the union movement is not the way to go, despite growing calls from within Labor to loosen the relationship.

"I think you just give more people more of a say - in the Labor party, in its policy direction, in its campaigning agenda and also in the selection of its candidates," he said.

"If you look at the Labor Party's membership we tend to be skewed at two ends of the age scale, so we have lots of retired people and lots of young people.

"What we don't seem to have are people my age, people in their 30s and 40s... when work and family demands are at their highest.

"I think that's a big challenge in looking at party reform - to finds ways to keep busy people connected."

Mr Giles says online engagement could be one way of overcoming the barriers for time-poor people.

"We do need to look at online branches and different ways of bringing people together that give them a real say and meaningful rights," he said.

Mr Giles' comments follow his speech to an ALP Fabians event this week, where he warned Labor is reaching a "tipping point" where factional activity is "supplanting" wider engagement in the party.

He says recent state and federal Labor Party conferences have lacked the passionate debate over big reforms witnessed in the Hawke-Keating years.

He says the right time for the debate on party reform is now, ahead of the 2015 Labor Party conference.