Reforms that address voter distrust in government – rather than populist policies – will help stem the booming vote for minor parties which in 2016 accounted for more than 25 per cent of the Senate vote, according to a new study which says it is not the economy driving the trend.

In a new study called A crisis of trust: the rise of protest politics in Australia, the Grattan Institute says the minor party share of the vote has been rising since 2006 and now accounts for more than one in four votes in the Senate, and one in eight votes in the House of Representatives.