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House of Representatives                                Ch 17                                                 p 612

Petitions in the House of Representatives

The right of petitioning Parliament remains a fundamental right of the ci tizen. It is the only means by which the individual can directly place grievances before the Parliament. Petitions may be received by the House on public or individual grievances provided that they relate to matters over which the House has jurisdiction. Most petitions concern public issues.

The practice of accepting petitions has been viewed from time to time as an ineffective anachronism which makes excessive demands on the time of the House. It seems true that the importance of petitions has diminished over the centuries. Individual grievances can often be dealt with by more direct non-public action by Members, by the Commonwealth Ombudsman and by such bodies as the Administrative Appeals Tribunal. Public grievances may be more effectively brought to public attention through other parliamentary forms such as questions, debate and committee inquiries, and through direct communication with Members and Ministers.

To concede that petitions have diminished in importance is not to suggest, however, that they have no importance at all. About 500 petitions are presented each year. ¹ In 1993 a petition was presented from an estimated 513 445 citizens (concerning health care funding). ² A new record was set in 2000 when a petition was presented from 792 985 citizens (concerning taxation and beer prices). ³ It would seem from these figures that the many people who organise petitions and the thousands who sign them consider their efforts to be worthwhile. An important effect of the petitioning process is that Members and the Government are informed, in a formal and public way, of the views of sections of the community on public issues. Even if no action is immediately taken on a petition, it and others like it may assist in the creation of a climate of opinion which can influence or result in action. The petition usually forms part of a broader attempt by individual groups within the community to draw public attention to grievances. Petitions also provide a focal point for individuals and groups attempting to organise campaigns on various issues—for example, public meetings are sometimes organised around the signing of petitions.

Major changes were made to the standing orders concerning petitions with effect from the first sitting in 2001. These were made on the recommendation of the Procedure Committee, which had reported on petitions in its 1999 report which dealt with ways to enhance community involvement in the procedures and practices of the House. The committee’s approach was aimed at making it easier for people to get their message into the House and to improve the impact of petitions once received by the House. ⁴

The 1995-2004 average was 374 per year. For statistics of petitions presented since 1901 see Appendix 20. There was a noticeable increase during the 1970s and 1980s, with a peak of 5528 in 1986. In its 1972 report the Standing Orders Committee commented: ‘More recently it has been noticeable that, rather than present all sheets of a petition as one document, a single sheet or a group of sheets of a petition has been distributed to a number of Members and presentation has been repeated on many sitting days presumably to have the effect of securing greater publicity’, PP 20 (1972) 8. It is considered that since it has only been possible for petitions to be presented on one sitting day each week the number of petitions recorded as presented each year has dropped because there have been bigger ‘groupings’ of sheets of petitions.

VP 1993-95/71.

H.R. Deb. (4.12.2000) 23253-4. Note that the number of signatures has been recorded only since 1988.

Standing Committee on Procedure; It’s your House: Community involvement in the procedures and practices of the House of Representatives and its committees , PP 363 (1999) 6.