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

I would like to take this opportunity to talk about the electronic petition system, recently introduced by the House. Electronic petitioning has been under consideration by the House for some time, with the Standing Committee on Procedure considering electronic petitioning in its 2007 report Petitioning the House of Representatives. This report also recommended the establishment of the Petitions Committee that I am the chair of today.

Following the Procedure Committee report, the Standing Committee on Petitions, in its 2009 report Electronic Petitioning to the House of Representatives, recommended the introduction of an electronic petitioning system for the House. In 2015, the government responded, agreeing with the introduction of such a system, and subsequently the system was commissioned.

In September 2016, following changes to the standing orders, the House was now able to accept e-petitions as well as continuing to accept paper petitions. Members of the public are able to go to the petitions website for the House of Representatives and are guided through the process of entering an electronic petition. The system has been designed to assist petitioners in making their petition compliant with the standing orders by pre-filling text, providing examples of terms and suggesting suitable wording. Petitioners then provide their personal details, which are used by the system to authenticate and contact via email, which provides a quicker turnaround than physical letters.

Once a petition is entered, the petitioner is sent an email to verify their email address and, once done, the e-petition is then in the system. The e-petition is then considered by the Petitions Committee, which examines all electronic and paper petitions to ensure that they comply with the standing orders, before they are presented in the House. The committee scrutinises the terms and decides whether the e-petition is in order or out of order. In-order e-petitions are placed on the House's petition website and can be signed by the public. If an e-petition is out of order, the petitioner is informed and provided with suggestions to make the terms more compliant with the standing orders.

E-petitions are available for signing for four weeks. To sign a petition, a unique email address is required and the person wishing to sign has to verify their email address. This is an important authentication step which was an important feature of recommendations from both the procedure and the petitions committees. The number of signatures on the website is kept up to date and shows which petitions have received more signatures. The principal petitioner can promote their petition as widely as they choose for the four-week period.

Once the signature period has closed, the e-petition will be presented in the House at the next available opportunity by either the chair or a member if the petitioner has organised this. The e-petition will remain on the website and will be referred to the relevant member. Any response from the minister will be also posted on the website as well as being sent to the petitioner.

The implementation of e-petitions is an exciting development and one that the Petitions Committee is very pleased to see. We anticipate a change in work of the committee with the introduction of e-petitions, requiring quick decisions around the certification and presentation of e-petitions and a likely increase in the number of total petitions that need to be considered by the committee.

Bob Katter (Kennedy, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Oh, come on, you know you're eliminating petitions from the parliament!

Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Kennedy!

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

I thank the honourable member for Kennedy. I intend to use these statements as an opportunity to keep the House informed of the progress of e-petitions and the work of the committee.