House of Representatives Committees

| House of Representatives Standing Committee on Petitions

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Electronic petitioning to the House of Representatives

16 November 2009

© Commonwealth of Australia 2009
ISBN 978-0-642-79250-1 (Printed version)
ISBN 978-0-642-79251-8 (HTML version)

View the report as a single document - (PDF 982KB)


View the report as separate downloadable parts:

Preliminary Pages (PDF 252KB)

Foreword
Membership of the Committee
Committee Secretariat
Terms of reference
List of recommendations
Executive summary

 
Chapter 1 Introduction (PDF 227KB)

Petitions
Electronic petitions
The inquiry
Current arrangements
The Senate
Electronic petitions and cultural change
Key distinctions
 ‘Minimal’ or ‘web presence’ model
Necessary reform or expansion of engagement
Electronic petitioning and engagement
Committee comment

 
Chapter 2 Models of electronic petitioning (PDF 238KB)

Introduction
Queensland Parliament
Scottish Parliament
GetUP
Individuals and smaller groups
Third-party organisations
The House of Representatives
Committee comment

 
Chapter 3 Changes required to the practices and procedures of the House (PDF 248KB)

Introduction
Overall scope of change
Committee comment
Website scope and interactivity
The role of Members
Committee comment
The role of third parties
Committee comment
Signatories in- and out-side Australia
Committee comment
Presentation in hard or soft copy
Committee comment

 
Chapter 4 Privacy and security concerns (PDF 217KB)

Introduction
Preventing fraudulent signatures
Queensland
Scotland
Privacy
System integrity
Committee comment
Verification
Privacy
System integrity

 
Chapter 5 Financial and resource implications (PDF 197KB)

Introduction: who administers the site?
Financial background
System cost
Day-to-day costs
Committee comment

 
Chapter 6 The experience of other jurisdictions (PDF 228KB)

Introduction
Experience in Queensland
Research: Queensland
Experience in Scotland
Research: Scotland
Further challenges
Relevance to the process of government
Engaging the least-engaged
Committee comment

 
Chapter 7 Conclusion and recommendations (PDF 231KB)

Introduction
A model of electronic petitioning for the House
Changes required to the practices and procedures of the House
The role of Members in electronic petitioning
Privacy and security
Financial and resource implications
The state of engagement 

 
Appendix A - Petitions 1973-2009 (PDF 249KB)
 
Appendix B - Proposed electronic petitions work-flow (PDF 141KB)
 
Appendix C - Submissions (PDF 137KB)
 
Appendix D - Witnesses at public hearings (PDF 161KB)

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