The Abbott Government appears to have quietly shelved plans to reform the way the Senate is elected.

The failure last week to get its carbon tax repealed by the new crossbench shows the volatility of the new Senators, and the ABC understands the Government has lost its appetite to push ahead with reforms.

Independent Senator Nick Xenophon has told AM he does not believe either party is now willing to make changes.

"There won't be Senate reform. I've been told quietly that the Government and probably the Opposition as well won't do anything to upset the minor and micro parties and that's the way it is," he said.

Senator Xenophon was first elected to the Upper House in 2007 and again last year on a full quota, without the need for preferences.

"I introduced a bill for Senate reform based on the New South Wales system, optional preferential voting ... it gets rid of preference gaming," he said.

"It's interesting to note that Bob Day from Family First is there because of Labor and Green's preferences."

New Senate crossbencher David Leyonhjelm was also sent a "quiet" message from the Government that any reforms are now on the backburner.

The New South Wales Liberal Democrat said he does not expect to see any reform plans until closer to the 2016 election.

"I think there's a reasonable chance the Government will want to bring on electoral reform reasonably close to the next election and by that stage of course our eight votes will be less relevant," he said.

In May, a bipartisan parliamentary committee examined the preference deals that swept micro-parties into the Upper House, including the Australian Motoring Enthusiasts' Ricky Muir, who received just 0.51 per cent of the primary vote but is now a key balance-of-power Senator.

The Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters recommended the introduction of optional preferential voting both above and below the line in the Senate.

The committee also recommended that parties be given 12 months to comply with the new standards so any reforms would need to be in place by the middle of next year.

After last year's election both the Liberal Party federal director, Brian Loughnane, and Labor's national secretary, George Wright, expressed concerns that micro-parties were "gaming" the system.