The annual ball, attended by parliamentarians and press gallery journalists, which has raised more than $4.4 million for various charities since 2000, is returning to Parliament House on September 7 after a two-year COVID-19 pandemic hiatus.

The media-affiliated body, Comms Declare has called for MPs and journalists to boycott the ball for having oil and gas companies Woodside and Shell among its sponsors, as well as two lobbying firms with fossil fuel clients Hawker Britton and Nexus APAC.

Senator Pocock, who was elected in May in a significant part for his environmental and integrity credentials, will still be attending the event, but wants change.

"I share the concerns about fossil fuel sponsorship," he said in a statement. "We're seeing increased sponsorship in communities and sport from these companies at a time when fossil fuel companies' social license is rightly being questioned.

"Given the nature of this event, I think the ball offers a unique opportunity to reinforce good corporate governance practice by putting some strong guidelines around sponsorships."

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Senator Pocock and his wife Emma Pocock have donated a "dinner for four" opportunity for the ball's charity fundraising activities. This, and the couple's attendance at the ball, is still planned to go ahead.

But he has now formally written to the ball's organising committee asking that they review future sponsorship arrangements with a view to reconsidering sponsorship from fossil fuel companies.

"For me, the answer is about moving away from this entanglement," Senator Pocock said.

"We want the workforce in this industry to be able to transition, and that's also what we want for cultural and political institutions who've had long relationships with the industry.

"I have raised this with the organising committee and they have indicated they will be consulting further on this issue ahead of future events."

The president of the federal press gallery and one of eight members of the press gallery committee, David Crowe, has spoken to the Senator and has now promised to consult and listen to any concerns about sponsorships.

He said the Midwinter Ball has been a 20-year success in raising funds for charity and it was a shame that any sponsorship concerns had not been presented earlier.

"It's too late to change the arrangements when we only have a few weeks until the ball on September 7," he said.

Mr Crowe, the Chief Political Correspondent for the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, said he was glad for Senator Pocock's support.

"I thought his statement was pretty reasonable. I'll definitely be talking to him about it again, which is what I said to him the other day," he said.

The 2022 charity recipients are Rural Aid Australia, OzHarvest Australia, Fearless Women, Roundabout Canberra, Pink Elephants and the official Ukraine Crisis Appeal.

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