Petitions

A petition is basically a request for action. The right to petition Federal Parliament has been one of the rights of citizens since federation, and it is the only way an individual can directly place grievances before the Parliament.

Senate Petitions

The presentation of a petition to the Senate is a proceeding in Parliament and is protected by parliamentary privilege. The publication of a petition before presentation is not similarly protected. (See Chapter 2, Australian Senate Practice, Parliamentary Privilege, Circulation of petitions.)

House of Representatives petitions

A petition to the House of Representatives (the House) is a request for action on something that the House is responsible for.

The House Standing Committee on Petitions receives and processes petitions on behalf of the House.

Petitions to the House must follow the rules and can be presented by a Member of Parliament or the Committee Chair.

Learn more about petitioning the House

Related Resources and Links

Senate

House of Representatives

What is a Petition?

Individuals and organisations may seek to have petitions presented to the Parliament. A petition expresses a point of view, usually on matters of public policy, and contains a request for action, or in some cases, not to take action. The right to petition Parliament has been one of the rights of citizens since Federation.

Each house of the Parliament has its own rules that documents must follow in order to be accepted as petitions.

May 2016

Sun	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat
1 Both	2 Both	3 Both	4 Both	5 Senate	6	7
8	9	10	11	12	13 Other	14
15	16	17	18	19	20	21
22	23	24	25 Other	26 Other	27 Other	28 Other
29 Other	30 Other	31 Other	1	2	3	4

Senate
House of Representatives
Both
Public Holiday
Other

Date	Title
13/05/16	Senate Occasional Lecture

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