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Petitions and joint letters to Council

Individuals and groups can express concern about an issue and ask Council to take action by organising a petition or joint letter. Both petitions and joint letters should be submitted to Council in the same way.

A petition normally has a request (formally called a ‘prayer’) at the top of each page of signatures. The prayer should read "We the undersigned residents and ratepayers of Whittlesea City formally request Council to…", and should be followed by the signatories’ full names, addresses and signatures (please see below for rules about signatures).

A joint letter is a letter signed by not less than three persons of separate addresses, that attempts to influence the Council’s decision making or actions. The joint letter must contain the signatories’ full names, addresses and signatures (please see below for rules about signatures).  

Preparing your petition or joint letter

Your petition or joint letter to Council must:

  • be addressed to the Chair of Administrators or the Panel of Administrators of the Whittlesea City Council
  • not relate to a matter beyond the powers of Council to address
  • state the facts which the petitioners wish to bring to the notice of the Council
  • contain a request for Council to take one or more specified actions
  • not be defamatory, indecent, abusive or objectionable in language or substance
  • be in a legible and permanent form of writing, typing or printing (petitions or joint letters may be submitted as an attachment to an email, however email petitions themselves will not be accepted)
  • be in English or accompanied by a translation certified to be correct - the person certifying the translation must place their name and address on the translation
  • not contain any text alterations
  • feature the entire wording of the ‘prayer’ or request on every page that people sign
  • not be attached, stapled or pinned to other documents besides another page of the petition
  • online petitions will not be accepted

Download the Petition Template

Rules about signatures

All the signatures on a petition or joint letter must:

  • be made by the person signing in his or her writing (an individual who is unable to sign, due to illness or disability, must make a mark in the presence of a witness, who must sign as witness and write his or her address, and the name and address of the individual for whom they are a witness)
  • not be copied, pasted or transferred on to the petition
  • not be placed on a blank page or the back of a sheet containing the terms of the petition
  • be numbered in sequence beginning on each page with the number one

How to lodge a petition

You can submit your petition or joint letter in the following ways:

By mail to:

Chief Executive Officer
Whittlesea City Council
Locked Bag 1
Bundoora MDC 3083

By email to:

info@whittlesea.vic.gov.au

For more information about submitting a petition or joint letter to Council, call us on 9217 2223.

After you lodge a petition or joint letter

If the petition or joint letter meets the requirements, the petition or joint letter will be processed and be tabled at the next Scheduled Council Meeting, where possible. We encourage you to submit your petition or joint letter prior to the day of the next Scheduled Council Meeting to provide Council with sufficient time to undertake any necessary research or investigations.

We will notify the person who submitted a petition (head petitioner), or signatories to a joint letter, that we have received the petition/joint letter and advise when it will be tabled at a Council Meeting. You are welcome to attend the Council Meeting to listen to the discussion of the petition or joint letter, however, please note you will not be able to speak at the Council Meeting. You can also view the relevant Council Meeting via live streaming at our Youtube channel.

We will do our best to table the petition or joint letter at the next Scheduled Council meeting after we receive it. When the petition or joint letter relates to an item on that Council meeting agenda, it may be considered with the matter at the meeting.

We will advise the head petitioner or signatories to a joint letter of the final Council decision once the matter has been investigated and reported back to Council, where necessary. Council may also contact the head petitioner or the joint signatories to work with them directly to resolve an issue or concern.