Independent senator Bob Day has launched a High Court challenge to the Turnbull government's senate voting reforms, which threaten his and other crossbench senators' seats at the next election.

The changes, which aim to prevent minor parties from using preference deals to turn a small primary vote into a seat in Parliament, were passed last week after a marathon 40-hour debate, with the support of the Greens and independent senator Nick Xenophon, paving the way for Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull's double dissolution announcement on Monday.

Senator Day asked the High Court late on Tuesday to declare that the changes were invalid and to prevent the South Australian electoral officer and the federal government from issuing the new ballot papers for the next Senate election, to be held on July 2 if the Senate fails to pass the Coalition's key industrial reforms.

High Court Chief Justice Robert French will preside over the case's first directions hearing on Thursday in Perth via video link to Sydney, where barristers will appear for Senator Day and the defendants, the South Australian electoral officer and the Commonwealth of Australia.