Senior members of the Abbott government are believed to want to abolish the arms-length appointment process for ABC and SBS board members established by the former Labor government.
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The process, introduced by Labor in 2010, was designed to de-politicise public broadcaster board appointments and ensure they are made on merit.
Board vacancies would be advertised and an independent nomination panel would present a shortlist of three candidates to the government.
But it has been mired in controversy recently after the government appointed conservative commentator Janet Albrechtsen and former deputy Liberal leader Neil Brown to the four-person nomination panel.
The panel recommended the appointment of SBS chair Nihal Gupta, whose business and management credentials came under scrutiny in Senate estimates hearings on Tuesday.
Fairfax Media understands that senior ministers, including Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Finance Minister Mathias Cormann, believe that the process should be scrapped. There is a strong view within the government that it is cumbersome, expensive and at odds with the government's deregulatory agenda.
But changing the process for board appointments would require legislative change and there is little desire within the government to provoke a stoush with an unruly Senate over the issue. The issue could re-emerge if relations with the Senate crossbenchers improve.
A spokesman for Mr Turnbull said the government had no plans to change the board appointment process.
ABC Friends spokeswoman Glenys Stradijot said: "The government should not return to the bad old days when it stacked the ABC board with its mates and enemies of the ABC."
The desire to overhaul the process helps explain the two-month delay in appointing Ms Albrechtsen and Mr Brown to their roles and the seven-month delay in appointing Mr Gupta to his role.
The other two members of the nomination panel, businessman David Gonski and former diplomat Ric Smith, were re-appointed for 10-month terms last week. Both could have been re-appointed for up to three years.
On Tuesday Labor Senator Sam Dastyari requested that Mr Gupta, a Liberal Party donor, be called before Senate hearings to answer questions about his suitability for the role and whether he tried to oust SBS managing director Michael Ebeid from his role at an unscheduled board meeting this month.
Mr Ebeid was re-appointed for a four-year term following the meeting.
Mr Gupta is managing director of Digital Electronics Corporation Australia, a company that was later revealed to have no employees.
Chair of the Senate Communications Committee Anne Ruston said Senator Dastyari's request would be considered.
