The Clerk announces the receipt of all petitions lodged for presentation since the previous sitting day after Question Time. The terms of the petition and the Member who lodged it are published in that day's Votes and Proceedings – Standing Order 123.

The Clerk forwards copies of petitions that have been received by the House to the Minister with responsibility for the subject matter of the petition.

If a petition has been signed by 500 or more persons, the responsible Minister is required to respond within 35 calendar days after receipt of the petition in the House. The Minister's response is announced in the House and published on the Parliament's website – Standing Order 125.

Paper petitions with 10,000 or more signatures and ePetitions with 20,000 or more signatures are set down for a debate in the House, which takes place at 4.00 pm on the Thursday of the next available sitting week – Standing Order 125A.

If there is more than one petition listed for debate, they are listed in the order they are presented and set down in the Business Paper.

There is no requirement for the Member who lodged the petition to speak during the debate.

Up to six Members may speak on a petition for a maximum of 30 minutes in total, although there may be extra speakers by leave of the House.  The first Member speaking also receives an additional two minutes in reply. One of the speakers is a Minister, who has three minutes to provide a response during the debate.

At the conclusion of the debate the question is put 'That the House take note of the debate'.

For more information on Petitions see Chapter Eleven of  A Short Guide to the Procedures of the Legislative Assembly.

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