Mr Bartlett,who served with the Democrats for a decade before returning briefly to the Senate with the Greens in 2017,toldThe Sydney Morning Herald andThe Age the party must fast-track its plans to ensure it remained in touch with its membership base.
The Australian Greens National Conference will take place in Canberra on Saturday and Sunday,with the issue expected to be progressed despite some within the party resistant to changing the current model,citing the risk of internal disunity and putting conflict into the public domain.
Mr Bartlett also wants the party to change to a model of co-leaders,which has been supported by NSW senator Mehreen Faruqi,and believes that must be put high on the party's agenda.
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A survey of 3000 Greens members earlier this year found just 30 per cent supported the current model where the leadership was decided by the Greens party room.
Undertaken by the party's Participatory Democracy Working Group,the survey found while 27 per cent of members were not sure whether the current method should be retained,40 per cent wanted a different model. About 70 per cent of those under 24 wanted a change to how the leader was chosen,with support for a new model highest in NSW and Queensland.
Sources close to Senator Di Natale insisted he was genuine in his plans to give members a say on the process and had no view of what model should be adopted.