Petitions giving Victorians a say

Changes brought in at the beginning of the 60th Parliament have increased the impact of petitions with those qualifying now triggering a parliamentary debate.  

So far 36 petitions have qualified for debate and all but one of those have been debated in the Legislative Council. 

Under the new rules, a paper petition that attracts more than 2,000 signatures is enough to initiate a debate, while an e-petition, or a combination of an e-petition and a paper petition, must gather more than 10,000 signatures to achieve the same outcome. 

A total of 174 petitions have been tabled in the Legislative Council with seven e-petitions, 27 paper petitions and one mixed petition gaining enough signatures to trigger a debate. 

Time has been formally allocated for these debates, with up to 30 minutes set aside on Wednesday evenings. Members of the Legislative Council may speak for up to five minutes on the petition, and the sponsoring member is given an additional two minutes at the conclusion of the debate to respond to other members’ contributions. 

The most recent petition presented was on planning policy and initiated by the Mansfield Shire Council.

It was tabled by the Member for Nothern Victoria Wendy Lovell who said the petition was  'to refer the Planning Amendment (Better Decisions Made Faster) Bill 2025 to an inquiry so that consultation with rural communities and councils can occur before drastic changes are made to the planning system that will centralise decision-making power in the minister’s office and silence local voices and councils in the development of their communities.' 

All petitions tabled in the Legislative Council are required to receive a written response from the relevant minister within 30 days and 149 responses to petitions have been published so far.

The largest petition presented up till now was an e-petition on the Emergency Services and Volunteers Fund with close to 44,000 signatures and presented by Member for Western Victoria Joe McCracken.

You can read the debate on that petition in Hansard. 

Other large petitions include one to stop the creation of new national parks with more than 40,000 signatures, one opposing changes to the Fisheries Authorities workforce, and one seeking to amend self defence laws, which both received more than 20,000 signatures. 

Petitions are open to all Victorian residents, including people under the age of 18, and any resident may start or sign a petition.

Victorians can create their own petitions through the Parliament’s website, which provides guidance on drafting a petition, finding a sponsoring Member of Parliament and understanding the rules that apply. The website also hosts a range of active petitions that members of the public can read and sign.