Petitions to Council

Petitions inform the Council of the views of a section of the community and serve as one way of placing community concerns before Council.

The subject of a petition must be a matter on which the City has the power to act. Care must be taken in the wording of petitions as the City requires certain information and content to be included to be a valid petition.

Petition requirements

Petitions are required to conform to a number of requirements relating to the format and the information presented. Electors are encouraged to use the Petition of Electors form to avoid the possibility of the petition being ruled out of order and not being presented to Council.

A petition is to:

• Be prepared in the prescribed form (or similar to that form)
• Be addressed to the Council and forwarded to the Mayor, a Councillor or the Chief Executive Officer
• Be made by at least 25 electors of the district (an “elector” is a person who owns or occupies rateable property within the City of Joondalup and is eligible to vote in local government and state government elections)
• State the request on each page of the petition
• Contain a summary of the reasons for the request
• Contain the hand written names, addresses and signatures of the electors and the date signed
• State the name of the person upon whom (initiator), and an address at which, notice of the outcome of the petition request can be given
• Be respectful and temperate in its language and not contain language disrespectful to Council
• Be legible
• Not contain any alterations
• Not have any letters or other documents attached to it, however a covering letter is permissible.

The City is unable to accept online petitions as they do not conform to the above requirements.

To prepare a petition, please use the Petition of Electors form.

Presenting the petition

Lead petitioners can hand deliver their petition to the Chief Executive Officer at the City’s Administration Centre, or present it to a City of Joondalup Elected Member.

Clause 5.11 of the City’s Meeting Procedures Local Law 2013 details the decision-making process following the presentation of a petition to Council:

(2)     On the presentation of a petition –

(a)     the member presenting it or the CEO is confined to reading the petition; and

(b)     the only motion that is in order is that the petition be received and, if necessary, that it be referred to the CEO for action.

(3)     At any meeting, the Council or committee is not to vote on any matter that is the subject of a petition presented to that meeting, unless-

(a)     the matter is the subject of a report in the agenda; and

(b)     the Council or committee has considered the issues raised in the petition.

It is requested that Petitions are received at or prior to a Briefing Session, to allow the petition to be checked for validity in accordance with clause 5.11 (1) of the City of Joondalup Meeting Procedures Local Law 2013, and included on the agenda for the Council meeting immediately following the Briefing Session.

Petitions received after a Briefing Session will be included on the agenda for the following month, except where the petition relates to an item on the agenda at that Council meeting.

Should the petition be formally received by Council, the petition will be referred to the Chief Executive Officer and the City’s Administration for investigation. The City will inform the lead petitioner of the decision of the Council in relation to the petition, including any action proposed, which may involve having a report prepared for a future meeting of Council for its consideration.