Ms Archer crossed the floor last year to bring forward debate on Indi independent MHR Helen Haines' model for an integrity commission, but the vote was still lost.

Such a body was promised by Prime Minister Scott Morrison in 2018, but the government has only tabled an exposure draft in this term of Parliament.

The government's model is opposed by the crossbench and Labor, partly due to an inability to look into past allegations of corruption.

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Ms Archer said "you would have hoped" the government could have negotiated with the crossbench on the issue, but she said there was also political partisanship to blame.

"The more politically contested it has become, and does become, the further we actually get away from having such a body or institution," she said.

"In order for an integrity commission to be successful - to fulfill the aims that you want it to, and to provide that mechanism that gives people trust and confidence in public officials or elected officials - it actually has to be politically accepted.

"Otherwise you don't have that trust and confidence in the first place."

Ms Archer was hopeful greater negotiation could occur in the future.

"But that's not what we've got, because you've got Labor campaigning saying we'll get it done. I would say that they would find themselves in the same situation because there's almost too much politics around it," she said.

Labor and the Greens also have proposed integrity commissions, with considerably greater power than the coalition's model, which would only hold public hearings for law enforcement officials and not public sector officials.

Bass Labor candidate Ross Hart said it was unfair to put the blame on political partisanship for Australians going another term of government without an integrity commission.

"There's been no legislation from the government that could be considered by Labor or anyone else," he said.

"If anybody wants an integrity commission that's going to be effective, and with teeth, it must be able to investigate past misconduct.

"This is not something that's a recent realisation by the Labor side of politics. We were prepared to work cooperatively with the government - the same with the religious discrimination bill - if the government had taken us in and sought to progress these bills.

"Saying Labor doesn't support some legislation therefore they wont introduce it, is an abrogation of their responsibilities."

Mr Ross said Labor would be campaigning strongly on this issue as it attempts to win back Bass, the Liberals' most marginally-held electorate.