petitions

Question 1

overview of petitions

Answer 1

• Parliament has features and structures to facilitate necessary law changes.
• Members of Parliament engage with their electorates to understand community values.
• Individuals and groups may seek to influence legislative reform for several reasons:
  
  • Feeling that Parliament has not adequately addressed the need for law changes.
  • Identifying new issues or problems that require legislative attention.

Question 2

Various methods can be employed to influence law changes, including:

Answer 2

• Lobbying: Engaging directly with members of Parliament to advocate for specific laws.
  
  • Petitions: Collecting signatures to demonstrate public support for a proposed change.
  • Public campaigns: Utilizing media and social platforms to raise awareness and rally support.
  • Submissions to inquiries: Contributing to parliamentary inquiries to provide expert opinions and evidence.
  • Community engagement: Organising events or forums to discuss issues and gather community input.

Question 3

Introduction to petitions

Answer 3

• Individuals and groups often use petitions to raise awareness and influence law reform.
• Petitions are the only direct method for individuals to present concerns or complaints to Parliament.
• A petition is a formal request for Parliament to take action on a specific issue.
• Examples of petition requests include:
  
  • Introducing a new law.
  • Amending an existing law.
  • Taking specific actions related to a policy matter or complaint.
• Petitions can be submitted in two formats:
  
  • Paper petitions: Physical documents signed by individuals.
  • Electronic petitions (e-petitions): Digital petitions that can be signed online.

Question 4

define petition

Answer 4

a formal, written request to the parliament to take some action or implement law reform

Question 5

Petition rules

Answer 5

• In the House of Representatives:
  
  • If a petition meets the rules, it is certified and presented.
  • A member of Parliament can present the petition on behalf of the principal petitioner.
  • Once presented, the petition becomes part of the official records of Parliament.
  • The minister has a designated time to respond to the petition.
  • The response is reviewed by the House Standing Committee on Petitions and then presented in the House of Representatives.
• In the Victorian Parliament:
  
  • All petitions must be sponsored by a member of Parliament.
  • The sponsoring member tables the petition in Parliament, officially recording it as part of the public record.

Question 6

For example, the rules may require that the petition:

Answer 6

• is addressed to the house in which it is being presented
• clearly states the action being requested (e.g. the desired change in the law) and the reasons for
  the petition
• is limited by words (e.g. the House of Representatives has a 250-word limit)
• contains the details of the person who initiates or organises the petition (the principal petitioner)
• is legible and does not contain any offensive or disrespectful language
• has at least one signature
• is an original document (i.e. not a photocopy of a petition) or, in the case of e-petitions, can be
  created directly on the parliament’s website using its e-petition system. This means petitions
  created on sites like Change.org cannot be directly presented to the parliament.

Question 7

define principal petitioner

Answer 7

the person who initiates or organises a petition, and whose name and contact details must be provided on the first page of the petition

Question 8

Examples of petitions

Answer 8

• State, territory, and Commonwealth parliaments receive hundreds of petitions annually.
• Petitions may address issues of general community interest, such as:
  
  • Preventing logging in certain forests
  • Banning live animal exports
  • Banning the release of helium balloons
• Petitions may also focus on issues relevant to specific groups, such as:
  
  • Funding for a health centre in a particular community
  • Establishing a new supervised school crossing in a local area
• Parliaments may receive multiple petitions on the same subject.
• Since 2020, there have been many petitions regarding Australia’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, including:
  
  • Mandatory vaccinations for certain workers
  • Removal of mandatory mask wearing in indoor public spaces (e.g., public transport)

Question 9

A 2019 e-petition to the Commonwealth
Parliament (House of Representatives) that
the House of Representatives declare a
climate emergency in Australia and introduce
legislation to immediately and directly reduce
the causes of human-made climate change.

Answer 9

• The petition was tabled by independent member of parliament Zali Steggall.
• It was one of the largest petitions presented to the House of Representatives, with 404,538 signatures collected in four weeks.
• The principal petitioner, Noah Bell, a 23-year-old Australian citizen, spoke at a press conference with members of the federal crossbench (independents and minor parties) while presenting the petition to Ms. Steggall.
• After the petition was tabled, the then Minister for Energy and Emissions Reduction responded by outlining the Federal Government’s plan to reduce emissions and greenhouse gases by 2030 while maintaining a strong economy.

Question 10

A 2020 e-petition to the Commonwealth
Parliament (House of Representatives)
for a Royal Commission be established to
investigate media diversity in Australia.

Answer 10

• The petition was created by former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, addressing concerns about the lack of diversity and independence in the Australian media and its impact on democracy.
• Rudd argued that Australia has one of the most concentrated newspaper markets globally, with only two media organizations holding a significant share of the print media market by readership.
• He and others believe this concentration leads to potentially inaccurate and politically biased reporting on social, legal, and political issues.
• The petition was tabled by Australian Labor Party (ALP) member Andrew Leigh and became the largest e-petition and the third-largest petition ever presented to the Commonwealth Parliament, with over 500,000 signatures.
• Although a Royal Commission was not established, a parliamentary inquiry was set up in November 2020 to investigate media diversity, independence, and reliability in Australia.

Question 11

A 2022 petition to place pressure on
the Commonwealth, state and territory
governments to raise the age of criminal
responsibility from 10 to 14 years of age.

Answer 11

• In 2020, a coalition of First Nations organizations and legal and human rights organizations launched the national #raisetheage campaign.
• The campaign aimed to raise awareness about increasing the age of criminal responsibility in Australia and to pressure federal, state, and territory governments for law reform.
• As part of the campaign, the #raisetheage e-petition was created.
• By July 2022, the e-petition had garnered over 211,000 signatures, including 65,799 from Victorians.
• Although the e-petition was not created on the Victorian Parliament’s website and could not be tabled directly, it was presented to Fiona Patten, former Legislative Council member and Leader of the Reason Party.
• Fiona Patten used the petition to generate media interest and raised the issue in Parliament, referring to the petition during question time.

Question 12

Are petitions effective?

Answer 12

• The influence of a petition on law reform depends on several factors, including the number of signatures it receives.
• A petition with a large number of signatures demonstrates strong community support, making it more likely to be considered by members of parliament, who aim to reflect the views and values of their constituents.
• Conversely, petitions with few signatures may not attract enough attention, especially given the volume of petitions received by parliament each year.
• Other influencing factors include the passion and public profile of the member of parliament presenting the petition and whether there is additional pressure, such as a media campaign, to support it.
• Only e-petitions created on parliamentary websites can be officially tabled in parliament, limiting the effectiveness of e-petitions created elsewhere.

Question 13

define representative
government

Answer 13

a political system in which the people elect members of parliament to represent them in government

Question 14

Explanation points

Answer 14

• Petitions are formal documents signed by individuals requesting parliament to take action or change the law.
• They provide a direct means for individuals to express their desire for legal changes to parliament.
• Each parliament has specific rules or requirements for petitions to be accepted, typically involving presentation in parliament and becoming part of the public record.
• Petitions are a straightforward, cost-effective way for people to advocate for law reform, with e-petitions being particularly easy to set up and monitor.
• Members of parliament are more likely to consider petitions with many signatures, indicating strong community support for the proposed changes.
• Creating a petition and gathering signatures can raise public awareness of the issue and foster support for legislative change.
• Even if a petition does not lead to immediate law reform, its tabling can attract attention from other parliament members and the media, potentially generating further community support.

Question 15

Discussion points

Answer 15

• Some individuals are hesitant to sign petitions due to privacy concerns, despite supporting the proposed changes.
• Petitions must adhere to specific rules to be presented in parliament, such as word limits or requirements for tabling by a member of parliament (e.g., in the Victorian Parliament). Petitions that do not comply with these rules are less likely to be accepted or gain attention.
• In the Victorian Parliament, a member must table petitions. The likelihood of a petition effecting change can depend on the member’s willingness to table it, their influence within parliament, and their political standing.
• Parliaments receive numerous petitions annually, and there is no guarantee that suggested law reforms will be adopted.
• Many petitions may not attract public or media attention after being tabled, especially without additional community pressure, which can lead to overlooked requests for law reform.
• The existence of opposing petitions or multiple petitions on the same topic can dilute the impact of individual petitions.