Federal Treasurer Wayne Swan has suggested changes could be made to the Federal Government's proposed internet filter.

The Government announced the filter two years ago as part of its cyber safety program to protect children from pornography and offensive material.

But Communications Minister Stephen Conroy announced the filter would not be put in place until an independent review can be carried out into what content would be banned.

The review, which could take a year, is looking at what makes up "refused classification" rated content.

Talking to Triple J's Hack program, Mr Swan has publicly suggested for the first time that the filter could make some changes or "move in different directions" in response to concerns voiced by many who claim it will slow download speeds and lead to unwarranted censorship.

"Stephen Conroy... has announced some changes to the filter - he's talking to industry about those now," he said.

"We have responded to the legitimate concerns of many of your listeners in this area and Stephen Conroy is going through that process now.

"It's possible that we could move in slightly different directions."

But Greens Senator Scott Ludlam believes the program has been deferred until after the election due to the unpopularity of the proposal.

"There has been a huge outcry over this and I think all they've done is they've just backed it off to make sure it didn't play off into the election campaign," he said.

"The Labor Party policy going into this election is for internet service provider-level mandatory censorship of the internet after the election - that's still their policy."

Senator Ludlam says moving the filter in a "different direction" is not what the public is calling out for.

"I haven't heard a lot of people demanding that Stephen Conroy move in a slightly different direction. People want the filter scrapped," he said.

"They want to start again with some more intelligent ideas and better ways of dealing with this material, whether it be law enforcement, education, home-based filters or whatever.

ISP network engineer and filter critic Mark Newton is also sceptical over what direction Senator Conroy will take the filter.

"The most common responses Senator Conroy has been making to the criticisms of this policy is to assert that his detractors are supporters of child pornography," he said.

"He doesn't tend to address the comments of detractors in any great detail. He just sort of brushes them off and the attitude is always, 'I'm right, you're wrong and this is what we're going to do'.

"So we haven't really seen a lot of good faith from the minister."

Opposition spokesman Tony Smith says Labor was wrong to cancel John Howard's previous online protection programs.

"The Coalition believes Government, regulators, internet providers, teachers and importantly parents should all have a role to play in protecting children online," he said.

"While Labor has fumbled around for three years, the only concrete decision Senator Conroy has taken is to cancel the Howard Government's practical program, Protecting Australian Families Online."

Senator Conroy could not be reached for comment.