In what is believed to be a first for a major Australian political party, the Australian Labor Party will trial a new primary system to select their candidate to take on sitting Liberal MP and former Yarra Ranges mayor David Hodgett in the knife-edge seat.

The candidates are ALP electorate officer Victoria Setches, Casey councillor Daniel Mulino and State Government political adviser Jamie Byron.

A primary will allow anyone who identifies as an ALP supporter in the Kilsyth electorate to register to vote for a candidate to represent the ALP at November's state election.

ALP state secretary Nick Reece, who grew up in Ringwood, said the seat of Kilsyth had been chosen for the trial because it would be "a key seat for Labor in the November State election".

"It's an area which is important to Labor because if it's a good campaign that is run, Labor could win."

The ALP would need a 0.35 per cent swing to win the seat.

Mr Reece said primaries were a very democratic way of choosing a candidate, one that hopefully would mean a better candidate for the electorate and better support for the candidate in the election.

Mr Mulino said he had been attracted to both the ground-breaking process and the seat, as he has worked in the east at federal Senator Jacinta Collin's office.

With a PhD in economics and experience as a political financial adviser, Mr Mulino wanted to "set a solid economic platform for the state and create more jobs".

At 22, Mr Byron said that, while he was a young candidate who wanted to engage the youth vote through a Facebook group, Twitter and an interactive website, he also wanted to be a representative for Kilsyth families.

Ms Setches said, as the most local candidate, she would focus on the "schools, Maroondah hospital, public transport - all the major issues from a local point of view" - and making sure "people living in Kilsyth have a good life".

Registration opened on Friday and will close on March 31, with voting to take place at the Croydon South Guides Hall on April 18-19.

The ALP will also be running stalls in the Kilsyth community to give ALP supporters a chance to meet the candidates.

To register for free, or read more about the candidates, call 99338549 or click here to visit www.my-alp.org.au /kilsyth