Independents Max Dicks and Bernardine Atkinson have put their hats in the ring for seats in the upper house as they both seek to gain a greater influence on legislation.

If voted in, Mr Dicks said he hoped to foster a "more caring society" and give Australians skills to "communicate their feelings and understand them".

"Australians need to have the skills of healthy and heartfelt communication and empathy," he said.

"I would like to increase emotional intelligence in schools.

"I would like to have more programs, where if people are struggling in relationships or communication, that are government funded to be able to help."

The 31-year-old said he was not fond of current politicians and chose to run in the senate, rather than the lower house, to have the power to "make a difference".

"It would be nice to have somebody in there who really puts people first. That's my big driver," he said.

"If I were to get into the Senate, I'd have a better chance of actually being able to do something."

The locksmith said he would also legislate on systems and surveys to give voters a voice between elections.

"It seems like voters are only really engaged every three years, and I think that's appalling," he said.

"Creating a system of voter engagement education is essential to having a healthy democracy."

Mr Dicks said he opted to be an independent to avoid potential party infighting, and allow him the freedom to market heavily on his name.

"If somebody told me to vote a particular way, and it was against what I thought was morally right or good, I would tell them 'no', and I'd get kicked out of the party pretty quickly," he said.

"I don't have a lot of money (to campaign).

"I'm going around and talking to people, and people are willing to chat to me in pubs rather than other politicians, I believe, because I have a funny name."

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Ms Atkinson unsuccessfully ran for the lower house in 2007 and 2016, and has taken a tilt at the senate for the opportunity to modify and correct legislation.

She said her research into energy alternatives, particularly nuclear power, propelled her into politics.

"Educating the public about how very safe reactor technology now is, how sustainable it is, how valuable the resource is, should be a government responsibility," she said.

"It is to our shame that this important science... has been omitted for fifty years from our science agenda.

The Lake Bolac resident's career prior to politics spanned fields including education, journalism and ecological research and sustainability.

Ms Atkinson said she would be promoting a voluntary national service scheme for "defence, disaster relief and development" during her campaign.

"It's purposeful, it's inclusive, it brings in money," she said.

"If it's providing part time or full time opportunities for anyone aged between 16 and 86, we would have a lot of people who would be willing to join.

"The best deterrent to war is preparedness. Building up a little bit of home guard capacity won't hurt Australia."

She said she believed a national service would also solve issues including unemployment, welfare dependency, and lack of infrastructure and access to health services in the regions.

For the 63-year-old, serving as an independent senator would help her unite the current "dysfunctional" political system.

"Who in their right mind would tolerate 49 per cent of their membership, opposing what the other 51 per cent want to achieve? A divided house will not stand," she said.

"Every member of parliament should be working together to make sure that we put Australians first.

"I'm hoping to go into parliament and say maybe Clive Palmer and Pauline Hanson have actually got the right idea."

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