Ross Vasta (Bonner, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On behalf of the Chair of the Petitions Committee, I'd like to inform the House of a change to the committee's approach to referring petitions to ministers.

All in-order petitions are published on the parliament's website and presented in the House of Representatives. Under the standing orders, the Petitions Committee may also refer a petition to the minister responsible for the administration of the matters raised in the petition. The minister is then expected to provide a written response within 90 days.

Until now, the practice has been that almost all petitions are referred to a minister for a response. However, in recent months the committee has sought feedback on whether this approach continues to meet the needs and expectations of those who engage with the petitions system. This is in light of the significant increase in the number of petitions received by the House since the introduction of electronic petitioning in 2016.

As the chair has previously reported, the committee posted an electronic survey on the parliament's website, seeking feedback on whether a petition should have a minimum number of signatures before being referred to a minister for a response. The committee also wrote to all members, seeking their views.

The feedback received by the committee indicated strong support for the idea that a petition should have reached a certain number of signatures before a minister should be expected to provide a written response.

The committee has therefore decided to introduce a modest signature threshold for the referral of a petition to a minister for a response. Starting in the new year, the committee will refer a petition to a minister only if the petition receives 50 or more signatures. This will apply to both paper and electronic petitions. The committee will monitor the impact of this change throughout the next year to ensure that it is an appropriate baseline.

The ministerial referral process is a valuable part of the House petitions system. It allows for petitioners' concerns to be placed directly before the minister and provides petitioners with important information in relation to their petition.

Through this change, the committee is seeking to ensure that the referral process is sustainable, so that petitions with strong community support continue to receive considered and helpful ministerial responses within a reasonable time frame. I thank the House.