Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has backed a crackdown on lobbyists’ access to Parliament House, arguing too many have been able to move through sensitive ministerial areas.

Under changes to be imposed in the next two years, lobbyists seeking a parliamentary access pass will be required to obtain sponsorship from two MPs instead of one.

The names of sponsoring parliamentarians will also be publicly disclosed, increasing transparency around who is granting access to the building.

Mr Albanese has maintained he has never met a lobbyist in his office, instead meeting only directly with company chief executives.

He also argued ministers should not be sponsoring lobbyists and believes the system allows too much access to ministers’ offices.

The move also follows Mr Albanese’s decision to ban political fundraising events from Parliament House.

Transparency International Australia welcomed the decision to lift the secrecy around who holds sponsored “orange pass” access to Australian Parliament House.

However, the independent organisation has warned that the reform leaves the larger weaknesses in federal lobbying rules untouched.

“Knowing who has unescorted access to ministers and MPs is the bare minimum the public should expect,” said Clancy Moore, CEO of Transparency International Australia.

“But access passes are one symptom of a lobbying problem that is still far too easy to game.

“This includes publishing ministers’ diaries, having a three-year ‘cooling off’ period to stop ministers parachuting into lobbying jobs when leaving parliament and making the lobbying register include in-house and industry association lobbyists not just lobbying firms.”

In Transparency International Australia’s recent report “Behind Closed Doors”,  federal lobbying laws were ranked just 17 out of 100.

The changes follow growing calls for lobbying reform, led by independent senator David Pocock, who has advocated for greater transparency.

Mr Pocock has previously pushed for reforms to strengthen disclosure requirements and close loopholes in the lobbying system.

He attempted to introduce a bill into the senate to crackdown on lobbying laws but was blocked by the Albanese government.

“Well, I’ve been saying since I was elected to the parliament that our lobbying rules are totally broken. They’re actually a bit of a joke,” Senator Pocock said.

“We have 2,200 people with access-all-areas passes to the Parliament. We have no idea who they are, who gave them that access, what they’re here doing. It doesn’t cut it.”