What is a petition to Parliament?

A petition to the Australian Parliament is a formal written request signed by Australian citizens or residents asking the House of Representatives or the Senate to take a particular action. Petitioning Parliament is an ancient democratic right dating back to the English Bill of Rights of 1689 and is one of the most accessible ways for ordinary Australians to engage directly with Parliament.

Petitions can be presented in two ways. Paper petitions are signed by hand on physical petition sheets that include the formal petition wording, the names and signatures of supporters, and their addresses or contact information. The petition is then lodged with a Member of Parliament who presents it to the House. Electronic petitions (ePetitions) can be created and signed online through the Parliament's official ePetitions website at aph.gov.au. EPetitions have been available in the House since 2016 and were extended to the Senate from 2018.

Each petition must meet specific format requirements. The petition must be addressed to the relevant House (the House of Representatives or the Senate), set out the matter of concern, state what action the petitioners request, be respectfully worded, and be in English. Signatures must come from real individuals (though they need not all be Australian citizens). The Standing Orders set out specific form requirements that the Clerk's office can advise on.

Petitions are received by the Petitions Committee in the House of Representatives and the relevant Senate procedures. Major petitions can attract tens of thousands of signatures: the 2018 petition for marriage equality attracted more than 21,000 signatures, and petitions on climate, Indigenous recognition, and specific health and welfare policies regularly draw substantial signatures. The Parliament does not have to act on a petition, but it must be tabled and entered into the Hansard record. Many petitions have led to parliamentary inquiries, ministerial responses, or policy changes over time. Online petition platforms (Change.org, GetUp campaigns, and others) operate outside the formal Parliament petitions framework but can attract much larger numbers of signatures and influence public debate.