Lucy Wicks (Robertson, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On behalf of the Standing Committee on Petitions, I present the committee's report entitled Making voices heard—Inquiry into the e-petitioning system of the House of Representatives Petitions Committee, together with minutes of proceedings and evidence received by the committee.

Report made a parliamentary paper in accordance with standing order 39(e).

by leave—Today, I present the report for the inquiry into the e-petitioning system of the House of Representatives Petitions Committee entitled Making voices heard. When e-petitioning was introduced to the House at the commencement of the 45th Parliament, the aim was to engage more Australians in the petition process, many of whom were already used to accessing public services online. With over 300 e-petitions certified at the conclusion of the committee's inquiry, it is clear that the House e-petitions system has been successful in engaging Australians in petitioning the House. The committee's inquiry examined what is working well with the e-petitions system and how the system might be improved and enhanced. In doing so, the committee considered the experiences of jurisdictions around Australia and overseas that have also introduced e-petitioning.

Most importantly, the committee heard directly from users of the House e-petitions system and spoke with stakeholders interested in the e-petitioning process. Users generally praised the introduction of the e-petitions system but considered there were some aspects of it that could be improved. Much of the feedback, however, focused on how the system could be made simpler and more accessible for all users.

The committee found it valuable to hear about the experience of e-petitioning in parliaments around Australia and overseas. In particular, the committee extends its thanks to representatives of the parliaments of the Australian Capital Territory and Tasmania, who took time to speak to the committee in public hearings. We also heard from a very enthusiastic group of year 5 and year 6 students from St Anthony's Catholic Primary School in Marsfield, Sydney. This was a highlight of the inquiry. It was a delight to hear how the students valued petitioning in the House, and it showed how petitioning can be used even by young Australians. The committee drew on their very helpful suggestions for improving the e-petitions system in formulating some of its recommendations to the House.

The committee has proposed initial changes designed to improve the user experience of the e-petitions system and provide greater accessibility for all Australians, within current resources. Some issues raised during the inquiry were relevant to the practice and procedures for petitioning the House more broadly. The committee considers that these issues could be explored in a future inquiry into the role of the House Petitions Committee and the procedural framework of petitioning.

I would like to express my thanks to the Deputy Chair, the member for Richmond, and also to my colleagues on the committee for their ongoing support of petitioning in the House and for their hard work and professionalism. I also acknowledge the previous chair, the member for Bonner, who launched the inquiry on the committee's behalf.

On behalf of the committee, I warmly extend my thanks to the inquiry participants who prepared submissions and who gave their time to the committee. It was important to hear such informed perspectives from a variety of stakeholders, including individuals, school children, organisations and parliaments from other jurisdictions. On behalf of the Petitions Committee, I thank all Australians who have enthusiastically lodged an e-petition or signed an e-petition to the House. I commend the e-petitions process and this report to the House.

Justine Elliot (Richmond, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

by leave—I'm pleased to also be speaking on our Petitions Committee report relating to the inquiry Making voices heard—Inquiry into the e-petitioning system of the House of Representatives Petitions Committee. The inquiry examined the introduction of electronic petitioning and the public's response to it. Petitions generally—in whatever format, paper or electronic—are a really valuable way for individuals and communities to engage with all levels of government about issues that are important to them. In this day and age of increasing social media, it's vitally important that the parliament has adopted e-petitions, because we as parliamentarians know how increasing our interactions with constituents are through all these growing social media platforms.

Electronic petitioning has been discussed for a number of years, as e-petitioning was quite rightly seen as a means of reinvigorating petitioning the House and allowing people to generate support for their petitions online. It was great to see that, after a number of years in development, e-petitioning was introduced during the 45th Parliament. This inquiry allowed the committee to reflect on how the e-petition system has been received by both members of parliament and members of the general public. The committee looked at what was working well with the e-petition system and what could be done to improve that system.

The committee acknowledges all the users of e-petition system, and thanks those who made submissions to the inquiry or took time out to complete the online user survey. The survey received 293 responses. The committee received 18 submissions and two supplementary submissions to the inquiry. The committee held three public hearings in Canberra for the inquiry. As the committee Chair referred to, it also included hearing from a group of enthusiastic primary school students via video link from Marsfield in Sydney. It was great to see years 5 and 6 students engaging with the petitions process and the wider workers of the House. The committee also heard from a number of other parliaments about their e-petitions experiences, including from the Scottish Parliament, the House of Commons in Canada, the House of Representatives in New Zealand, the House of Commons in the UK and the Committee on Petitions of the European Parliament.

Since the introduction of e-petitioning to this parliament, the number of e-petitions presented to the House has closely matched or exceeded the number of paper petitions over the same period. What a great result that people are embracing it. The committee believes e-petitioning will continue to grow as people use social media and other online platforms to gain support for their causes. The changes to the e-petition system proposed by the committee aim to make submitting or signing an e-petition easier for all users. It is a great initiative in terms of having e-petitioning encouraging all Australians to get more involved their parliament and make their voices heard.

I would like to conclude by thanking the Chair, the member for Robertson, and all members of the committee who embraced the opportunities around electronic petitioning. I know all members of the House are committed to improving electronic petitioning. I would also like to thank the secretariat for their work in terms of this inquiry and, indeed, at all times for the committee as well. I think e-petitioning has a great future under this parliament and provides so many more opportunities for the general public to engage with their government.