In a lengthy interview with Fairfax Radio in Brisbane on Wednesday, Mr Rudd backed his colleague John Faulkner's criticism of the party and call to urgently return integrity and accountability to politics.

Yesterday, Senator Faulkner chided Labor for being reluctant to implement national measures concerning corruption and accountability.

He also decried the the party's factional system, calling for an end to factions being able to ''bind'' MPs in caucus votes or ballots.

Today in the first of what is slated to be a monthly interview spot with 4BC in Brisbane, Mr Rudd said Senator Faulkner was a ''good man''.

''He doesn't speak often but when he does, he thunders forth like Isaiah or Jeremiah, probably more like Jeremiah on this occasion.''

Mr Rudd said that Senator Faulkner's speech at a Melbourne University conference was ''right'' and called for a change in the way the Labor Party was governed.

''There's something sick which needs to be healed,'' he said.

The Member for Griffith said that power had to be returned to individual branch members and taken away from ''effectively unelected factional faceless men''.

The so-called ''faceless men'' were widely seen as instrumental in the Labor leadership change from Mr Rudd to Prime Minister Julia Gillard in June 2010.

''It's that closed culture of the faceless factional men which make a whole series of things possible,'' Mr Rudd said, noting their role in preselections, appointing people to state and national bodies within the party as well as internal dispute resolution.

''I think it's time for deep and fundamental reform.''

But Workplace Minister Bill Shorten (who has been described as a faceless man) said today that while Senator Faulkner had made some "strong points" about the need to be transparent, it would be hard to get rid of the factions.

"I don't know how you do that, pass a law and say no one can belong to any particular sub group in the Labor Party," he told ABC Radio. "The Labor Party is a passionate organisation and it will always organise around ideas, you know, the extent of government intervention in the economy for instance."

Mr Shorten said Labor needed to be aware of the presidentialism of Australian politics: "We need to compete on ideas, not just personalities."

Mr Rudd was also critical of Labor's response to an internal party report co-authored by Senator Faulkner, Bob Carr and former Victorian premier Steve Bracks after the 2010 election.

Mr Rudd took issue with the party for watering down the reforms at its national conference at the end of 2011 and then for delaying the implementation, with a committee meeting only once this year to consider it.

''That's not good enough,'' Mr Rudd said. ''As a party of reform, as a party on the progressive side of politics, we have to get real.''

Senator Faulkner's speech has also earned the backing of other Labor figures.

Labor Left faction leader Doug Cameron said Ms Gillard should convene a meeting with state Labor leaders, union bosses and parliamentarians to look at "how can we democratise the party and how can we make membership of the party more relevant."

"That can be done through focusing on the structures and role of party and ensuring that the rank and file have a strong voice in the party," Senator Cameron told ABC radio on Wednesday.

Finance Minister Penny Wong, NSW Party Secretary Sam Dastyari and Chief Government Whip Joel Fitzgibbon have also supported the call for reforms.

Treasurer Wayne Swan told reporters in Canberra that party reform - including making it more representative of the community - was an important topic of debate.

He would not speak specifically about the question of binding votes.

With AAP