There is only one cure for the Senate - get rid of it.

We are already the most over-governed country bar one, in the world! And you want to increase that and the huge wages bill that has to go with it!?

Too many taxpayer funded, useless, snouts in the trough already, without adding to it.

As for our representatives, their (unelected) enlarged staff do most of the electoral/select issues, work for them!

That said, if you're truly sincere about insufficient representation? An irrevocable bill of rights, which included a voter initiated referendum, would address most of the raised issues?

Our system of preferential voting already imposes folk, who however you play it, hardly ever represent the majority, and you want to expand and compound that built in undemocratic anomaly?
Alan B.

'And, with proportional representation being used to elect them, that would raise the possibility of many more Jacqui Lambies, Pauline Hansons and Derryn Hinches simply because it would involve smaller quotas being required to elect a senator.'

If this happens , then I think that every state should have 120 Senators... not 12 !

Only some damn fool academic could possibly believe we need even more politicians.

We already waste enough money on academics & politicians. I suggest you do something useful. Yes I know, a strange thought for an academic, but you could try to find some way to save us money, rather than waste even more.

As a referendum is designed to ascertain the will of the majority of the people then it cannot fail, except, perhaps, if the vote is 50/50.