In Australia, there is no fixed minimum number of signatures required for a petition to be presented to the federal Parliament; legally, one valid signature is enough, though more signatures increase political impact.

Federal Parliament basics

  • For petitions to the Australian House of Representatives, there is no minimum number of signatures for a petition to be presented.
  • The Parliamentary Education Office also notes that a petition to Parliament must have at least one signature , but does not set a higher threshold.
  • While one signature is sufficient, petitions with 50 or more signatures are more likely to be referred to a minister for a response in the House of Representatives.

State and territory differences

Each state parliament has its own rules, but the general pattern is similar.

  • Many Australian parliaments only require one signature for a petition to be formally valid.
  • Some parliaments (for example, South Australia) explicitly state “the minimum number of signatures is one” in their petition rules.
  • Certain state parliaments use higher informal thresholds (for example, 10,000 signatures in South Australia) to trigger special committee scrutiny or mandatory consideration, even though the legal minimum to lodge is still one.

Online petitions and “realistic” targets

Outside Parliament’s formal rules, platforms and campaigners focus on what is strategically effective , not just legally valid.

  • Online petition platforms like Change.org emphasize setting realistic but ambitious signature goals (for example, 10,000, 20,000, 50,000) to attract media and political attention, but these are campaign choices , not legal requirements.
  • Campaign guides recommend breaking big goals into milestones (e.g., 10,000 signatures in the first two weeks) to build momentum and credibility.

What this means in practice

If your question is simply “how many signatures are needed for a petition in Australia?” the core answer is:

  • Legally/formally :
    • Federal Parliament: at least one signature; no set minimum beyond that.
* Most state parliaments: also **one** signature to be valid, though rules vary in detail.
  • Politically/practically :
    • The more signatures you gather, especially hundreds or thousands , the more weight your petition is likely to carry with MPs, ministers, and the media.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.