The comments from the Australian Unemployed Workers Union (AUWU) come after the ABC reported that the Clark Liberal MHA had made a submission to the Tasmanian Industrial Commission stating that her $190,000 per year role, and that of the Legislative Council president, should attract higher pay.

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Ms Hickey told the ABC that the speaker role required very long hours to be worked, seven days a week.

As the industrial commission conducts a review of parliamentary salaries for 2019-20, Ms Hickey said salaries should be on par with mainland peers.

She did not respond to a request for comment on Monday.

The AUWU has helped spearhead the Raise the Rate campaign, calling for an increase to the Newstart payment.

AUWU spokesman Jeremy Poxon said Ms Hickey's comments were "ludicrously out-of-touch" but that the union would extend to her an "olive branch" and invite her to meet with some of its members living in her electorate.

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"Our member base is already feeling like politicians are living in their own worlds, living in a bubble," he said, noting that Tasmania's youth unemployment rate was the worst in the country.

"So to have [politicians] kind of whingeing about only living on $190,000 a year when ... our member base is barely surpassing $15,000 a year is just unbelievable and quite insulting to see."

Mr Poxon said the AUWU would "gladly" set up a meeting between Ms Hickey and one of its members in her area so she could get a "reality check".

Former House of Assembly speaker Michael Polley said he believed the role was well-compensated and that now was not the time to talk about a pay increase.

Mr Polley served for 19 years as the House of Assembly speaker and before that spent time as a government minister.

"I can only say that I was well-paid for what I did," he said.

He said any increase to a parliamentarian's salary should be considered in the context of the wage cap for the public service.

"I cannot see any justification for a pay rise for politicians above that wage cap," Mr Polley said.

Premier Will Hodgman said Ms Hickey's submission did not put forward views shared by the government.

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"I don't think it's appropriate for parliamentarians to be making decisions about their own pay," he said. "It should be set and determined by independent analysis."

An issues paper released in March showed a state parliamentarian earned a basic salary of $140,185.

The speaker role attracts an additional $49,065 - the same amount as the president in the upper house.

The speaker also gets a six-per-cent loading on the basic salary for office-related expenditure and another six-per cent for an entertainment allowance - or $8441.