Standing Committee on Petitions

The Standing Committee on Petitions is a committee of the Australian House of Representatives responsible for the processing of petitions addressed to the House of Representatives. The committee is governed by Standing Order 220 and consists of eight members, five government members and three non-government members. The chair is appointed by the Prime Minister and the deputy chair by the Leader of the Opposition under Standing Order 232.

History
The Procedure Committee undertook a study tour of other parliaments in 2006, resulting in a report which, among other things noted the potential value in the establishment of a Petitions Committee modelled on the Public Petitions Committee of the Scottish Parliament. This was followed by a further report of the Procedure Committee in September 2007 formally recommending the creation of a Petitions Committee. in 2008 the Rudd Government amended standing orders establishing a Standing Committee on Petitions for the first time.

47th Parliament
In the 47th parliament (July 2022 – present), the membership of the committee is the following:

46th Parliament
In the 46th parliament (July 2019 – April 2022), the membership of the committee was as follows: