Jodie Belyea (Dunkley, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Each bundle of petitions that I present to this House contains both petitions on recurring themes and petitions on new topics. The e-petitions being presented cover a range of topics including social media minimum age, safety of children on online gaming platforms, the national broadcaster, the conflict in the Middle East, early childhood education and the National Disability Insurance Scheme.

Between mid-December 2025 and the end of January 2026, while the parliament was in recess, over 350 e-petition requests were lodged through the e-petitions website. We continue to receive petitions from repeat petitioners, but we also see new petitioners coming forward to engage on topics that are of importance to them. This demonstrates that engagement with the petitions process, particularly e-petitions, continues to be high.

I am pleased to inform the House that the committee also certified 149 new e-petitions at its last meeting. These e-petitions are now collecting signatures on the e-petitions website.

On 4 November 2025, the committee launched an inquiry into the standing orders relating to petitions. With the 10th anniversary of the House's e­petitioning system approaching in September 2026, this inquiry is timely, given the high level of engagement by the public in the petitions process.

I look forward to updating the House further on the work of the petitions committee.

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