Federal Labor frontbencher Gary Gray has announced he will retire from Parliament at the next election, emphasising the need for generational change.

The move from the Western Australian politician means Labor will lose all of its sitting WA MPs at the next election, with Alannah MacTiernan and Melissa Parke also stepping down.

Mr Gray, elected to the seat of Brand in 2007, served as special minister of state and resources minister under the former Rudd and Gillard governments, after working as national secretary of the ALP from 1993 to 2000.

When asked about Labor's chances of winning the next election, he told the ABC: "I think it's highly unlikely that an opposition, at any time, wins a first-term election."

But he believed younger politicians would bring in "strength and vitality".

"Before Christmas, I had a look at the ages of our MPs," he said.

"Here was I at 57, looking at going around not for another term, but for another two. And I took serious stock of that over Christmas."

Mr Gray said he was confident Labor would have a "very strong chance" of retaining its three WA seats and picking up more, but conceded the campaign would be hard.

"The next election campaign will be tough for Labor and it needs the next generation coming through," he said.

"It doesn't need me staying there because I can stay there. It needs the next generation, it needs people with a 30 or a 40 in front of their age. It doesn't need people who are looking at being in the Parliament through their 60s."

Mr Gray is currently Labor's spokesman on resources and Northern Australia and the shadow special minister of state.

He has offered to resign from the Federal Opposition's frontbench immediately, but said he would continue to serve in whatever capacity Opposition Leader Bill Shorten chose until the next election.

Mr Gray, who was the focus of an unsuccessful pre-selection challenge late last year, has earned the enmity of some within the ALP by championing nuclear energy.

He recently clashed with the ALP state executive in Western Australia and has been a strong advocate for the resources industry in the state.

The veteran MP has also recently supported calls to change the Senate voting system, calling on Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull to reach an agreement with Mr Shorten on the issue.

He has not yet said what he plans to do after leaving politics.