Anthony Albanese has told Labor MPs that getting wedged by the government and the Greens over legislation was the new reality, with a much friendlier Senate for the Coalition making it harder to amend bills.

With Labor under scrutiny for its tactic of dealing with tax cuts and anti-terror laws by seeking to make changes but ultimately waving things through, MPs spoke at length during a caucus meeting on Tuesday over how they would handle legislation aimed at stopping child exploitation, which contains mandatory sentences for some offences.