Australians back truth in advertising laws: poll

The survey shows that 87 per cent of Australians wanted to see truth in political advertising laws brought in ahead of the next federal election campaign, including 83 per cent who voted "no" to the Voice proposal.

It comes as Independent MP Zali Steggall plans to reintroduce her bill to outlaw false and misleading political advertising when parliament returns in November.

"Currently, commercial conduct and promotions or advertisements that contain false and misleading information and statements that fail to disclose important information are considered misleading and deceptive but the same requirements are not in place for political advertising," she said.

In Senate question time on Thursday, Greens Senator Larissa Waters asked whether Labor was willing to "confront the issue of misleading political advertising".

Labor had previously flagged plans to introduce truth in political advertising laws but said it would wait for the Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters to release its final report into the 2022 federal election before committing to legislation.

On Thursday, Labor Senator Don Farrell said the government was following the process.

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"I intend to continue that consultation process with all of the parties with a view to trying to get a consensus position on reforms to our electoral system. We know that a whole lot of things need to be done to increase transparency," he said.

"In that process, we are going to give some consideration to the issue of truth in political advertising."

In question time, Senator Waters said the Liberals and the 'no' campaign unashamedly "used and amplified" disinformation and misinformation in their campaign against the Voice.

"It was straight out of Donald Trump's playbook," she said.

"Until we have truth in political advertising laws, those techniques can be used again, likely on migration. The next election would be a horror show of scare campaigns and misinformation."

More than 70 per cent of those surveyed by the Australia Institute said they were concerned about lies and misinformation throughout the referendum campaign on social media.

The institute surveyed 1547 Australians about the referendum and misinformation after the voting closed on Saturday.

Australia Institute executive Director Richard Denniss said misinformation and disinformation "swamped the referendum campaign with arguments that often had little to do with what Australians were being asked to vote on".

"Whether it is an election or a referendum, voters should go to the polls armed with the facts. In Australia, it is perfectly legal to lie in a political ad - and it shouldn't be," he said.

"If Australia is going to have a healthy democracy, we need to have healthy democratic debates."

The ACT has already adopted truth in political advertising laws.