A petition is an informal method by which individuals and groups attempt to influence a change in the law. It is a formal written request to a parliament, demanding action on a particular law. This demand is followed by a collection of signatures. At least one signature is required, but there are usually significantly more than one. A member of parliament (MP) will generally present a petition to a lower house on an issue that falls within that parliament’s powers. The petition and the number of signatures is recorded in Hansard.

Effectiveness

Petitions rarely directly lead to a change in the law. However, those with many signatures do force politicians to look at an issue seriously, as it represents the fact that a large number of people feel strongly on a particular issue.

Strengths of petitions

• Enable citizens to have their views expressed in parliament
• The greater the number of signatures, the more likely a petition is to influence change in the law

Weaknesses of petitions

• Once they have been presented, there is no guarantee that parliament will take action.
• If a petition does not have a significant number of signatures, parliament will likely dismiss the petition
• They do not generally attract much media attention, and therefore may not raise awareness of the issue to the general population

Even petitions with a significant number of signatures may not influence change in the law. A change.org petition calling on the Liberal Party to change their broadband policy was signed by 272,035 people, yet was dismissed by Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull.¹

See also:

Demonstrations

Media

1. Nick Paine, “The Liberal Party of Australia: Reconsider your plan for a ‘FTTN’ NBN in favour of a superior ‘FTTH’ NBN”, http://www.change.org/en-AU/petitions/the-liberal-party-of-australia-reconsider-your-plan-for-a-fttn-nbn-in-favour-of-a-superior-ftth-nbn ; Lucy Battersby, “Malcolm Turnbull gives thumbs down to fibre NBN petition”, September 13 2013, http://www.smh.com.au/it-pro/government-it/malcolm-turnbull-gives-thumbs-down-to-fibre-nbn-petition-20130913-hv1po.html ↩