The design of Australia's Parliament House, it has been said, promotes dysfunction. Chambers are too spread out and a redundant Members' Hall means MPs seldom have random encounters with each other or the public.

And maybe that's why MPs don't seem to agree on much. But, as always, the internet has a few ideas up its sleeve on how to best solve the problem.

One of those ideas, posted on Reddit, was to reinstate a members' bar. In the old parliament building, the old members' bar would be a place where documents and punch-ups were freely exchanged and democracy flourished.

In the new building, a non-members' bar was established. But after running at a loss due to lack of patronage, it closed in January, 1996, and became a childcare centre.

So with the members' bar idea off the table, perhaps we could entertain the idea to introduce Segways, as Reddit user eccles30 suggested:

"Segways to save democracy. I never thought I'd say it but Segways are all that stands between us and chaos."

The two-wheeled transporters could help link one end of Parliament with the other.

Other parliaments around the world have adopted less-drastic measures to ensure their MPs are more accessible and to create a more harmonious House. Perhaps we could take a leaf out of their book.

Britain

See the red lines on the floor of Britain's House of Commons? Those lines are two sword-lengths apart to prevent sword fights.

As you can see here, US Secretary of State John Kerry, Speaker John Bercow and UK Foreign Secretary William Hague are flouting the two-sword rule. ( Wikimedia Commons )

Members of the UK Parliament may only speak from where they are called within the House — and it can't be between those red lines on the floor of the chamber.

The rule relates to times gone by when Members used to wear swords, and even though politicians aren't armed anymore, the red lines remain to serve as a reminder to seek resolutions by peaceful means.

Germany

The national parliament in Berlin, named the Bundestag or Reichstag, is decorated with contemporary art pieces with a parliamentary or political flavour and is open to the public.

What makes it more accessible is that its location in the centre of the city is easily accessed by the public by the 100 bus, which will take you right to the door.

There are two things the Reichstag building gets right: It has great public transport access, and a reason besides politics for the public to visit. ( Reuters: Hannibal Hanschke )

France

Another way to ensure an accessible parliament is a good relationship between the government and the press.

In France, the National Assembly receives a copy of Le Monde newspaper before any other place in France.

It's brought by special courier at lunchtime each day, as a sign of the close relationship between the Assembly and the press.

Greece

Greece's Youth Parliament gets young Greeks active in political life and interacting with MPs. ( Facebook: Βουλή των Εφήβων )

The Hellenic Parliament operates its own free-to-air television station which broadcasts all parliamentary business.

In the summer break, the Hellenic Parliament hosts a Youth Parliament in which 300 young people aged between 17 and 20 are selected through an online essay competition.

A rotating quota of MPs attends speeches and debates held by high school students from Greece, Cyprus, and the Greek Diaspora.

The aim of the Youth Parliament is to get young Greeks active in political life to help them become active and responsible citizens.

So perhaps Australia could take a leaf out of any of these countries' books to make our Parliament more accessible to the public and, generally, a more interactive place. Then we could save the Segways for the tour guides.