Writing to your local Member of Parliament

There are a lot of reasons why people write their MP’s, as your elected representatives it’s their (and their office’s) job to provide constituents assistance with their concerns (where appropriate, more info on responsibilities of different levels of government here).

Writing to your local Member isn’t the only way you can get into contact with them, you can also call their offices, but writing, whether via email or post, should get you a response back.

Writing to a Member of Parliament can feel intimidating, but use these quick tips make contacting your representative a breeze.

Start with the ‘who, what, how and why’:

Who? Finding your local Member’s details 

It is often a good idea to start by writing to your local Member of Parliament. If you’re not sure who that is, you can find out here. 

What? Introduce yourself and tell them why you are writing to them  

Start your letter by telling your local Member who you are, including if they are the representative for your electorate. You can also include detail about a local group, or organisation you’re involved with.

How? Include lived experience, statistics, or information about the issue

You might want to include facts and figures, local connection to the issue, your experience of the issue, or recent news. If you are using a template or prewritten message, then adding your own words can help your message stand out.

Why? Specify the action you want your local MP to take  

If you want change, you have to ask for it! It could be to support a Bill, attend a local event, or change a policy. Outlining the action(s) you want to see will help you get results.

Now that you’ve covered all that you’re almost done! Finish and check over your letter using our writing tips.

YACSA’s tips:  

• Include your preferred contact details for a response.

Tell your local Member your full name and include your postal or email address so they can respond.  

• Use the right title!

Some Members are MPs, some are MLCs and some need Hon before their name – don't worry we have an easy explainer on titles here. 

• Keep it to one page, being concise and focused.

MPs get lots of letters so keeping it as short as possible is best. If you want to include more information you can include an additional document setting out other information.

• Be passionate and make sure to keep it polite.

Even if you disagree with your local Member on issues, being polite and respectful is more likely to get you a positive result. 

• Ask the Member to reply to you.

Include a line at the end saying that you look forward to their reply and if you do not get a reply, there’s no reason you cannot follow up with them. Remember that MPs get a lot of emails and letters so you may need to be patient.  

That’s it! Presenting your concerns to your representatives is a cornerstone of democracy, so congrats!

The levels of government (& their responsibilities)

There are three levels of government in Australia: federal, state or territory, and local. At each level, eligible voters vote to elect representatives to make decisions on their behalf.

We’re having a trifecta election year in SA in 2022, with federal and state elections down and just local government elections to go in November.

While these are all part of the same system of government there are lots of differences between them, from where they are to what they’re in charge of. Let’s look at the main differences and what each level of government does:

What is policy?

Policy is a broad concept that is difficult to define. It features across many areas of society and impacts our daily lives in often unseen ways.

In short, a policy is a statement of standards and actions formed by an organisation, or government to give consistent guidance, direction, clarity, or regulation on a specific topic.

Policies will have objectives and a body to provide a path towards practicable outcomes. Your school, workplace, the Australian and South Australian Governments, as well as local councils have policies to ensure standards of safety, wellbeing, communication, and other important aspects within their work . Policies are a framework to achieve long-term aims and they should help us to understand what and why organisations or governments want to achieve.

You may have come across policy in the form of a code of conduct in the workplace, a mobile phone or dress code policy at school, or a privacy policy online. Another type of policy that likely influences your life is public policy which is created and implemented by government and government entities. Public policy is our system of laws, regulations, funding allocation and other legislation worked on by policymakers in government. Each level of government has a responsibility to develop policy for different things. To learn more about the responsibilities of the different levels of government read you can read our post on that here.

Public policy can cover a broad range of topics including social policy, public health policy, environment policy and urban planning. Social policy aims to improve society in areas that impact on quality of life like criminal justice, employment, education, and inequality. Public health policy is the laws and regulations made to promote wellness in society, like Medicare and the pharmaceutical benefits scheme (PBS). Environmental policy focuses on needs resulting from humankind’s impact on the environment and concerns issues like air quality, water, climate change and pollution. Urban planning policy guides the formation of cities and towns and considers resource allocation, human and population development, climate change resilience and sustainability to varying degrees.

Creating public policy is complicated. It typically begins with identifying a problem or need and then the development of a resolution through creating new policy or reforming existing policy. Making public policy is an involved task where Bills are introduced, consultation occurs, and debates are held. To learn about the stages a Bill goes through to become an Act check out our post How a Bill Becomes an Act. Another factor that makes policy a challenging task is policymakers and other community members do not always agree and can have different ideas that compete with one another.

Policymakers are our elected representatives across the levels of government. When making policy decisions they are influenced by a range of factors including different ideologies, interpretations, and values. At the same time, they also must consider aspects like cost, existing policy, potential consequences, and political opposition. Other people outside of government can also directly or indirectly effect public policy too. Non-government organisations, corporations, community-based groups, lobbyists, and individuals can influence policymakers and their decisions through advocacy, mobilisation, and activism.

Public policies impact all our lives in many ways and engaging in the development of policy is possible through community groups, activism, or political participation as an individual! If you’re passionate about getting involved you can learn more about political processes, advocacy, campaigning and policy, and use these skills to keep decision makers accountable by becoming a YACSA Young Member. It’s free and sign up only takes 20 seconds, find out more here.

How a Bill becomes an Act in South Australian parliament

Before legislation comes into force, it begins as a Bill before Parliament. South Australian Parliament has two Houses – the Legislative Council (Upper House) and the House of Assembly (Lower House). A Member of either House will write a Bill, essentially drafting legislation, and they will introduce it to their House for consideration.  

A Bill must pass several stages within both Houses of Parliament and then receive Royal Assent, where the South Australian Governor formally agrees to make the bill into an Act in the Queen’s name, before it becomes legislation.  

Stage 1: Introduction and First Reading

A Member will request “leave” (permission) to introduce a Bill which is then included on the Notice Paper (like an agenda) for the next sitting day. On that sitting day, a Member will again ‘seek leave’ and present a copy of a Bill to be read for the first time.  

A Bill can be introduced by a Member in either House first, except for ‘Money Bills’ that concern revenue, taxation, public funds or loans, which must be introduced to the House of Assembly first.  

Stage 2: Second Reading

After a Bill is introduced and read a first time, a ‘second reading’ may happen immediately or be considered for a future sitting day.  

For the second reading to occur, a Member will rise and move that the bill now be read a second time. This Member then reads their main speech to a Bill which usually outlines the principles of the Bill, intended benefits to the community, and the reasons for introducing the Bill. Following the speech, debate is usually adjourned to give other Members time to review a Bill and speech before debating the matter further at a later date.   

Other Members may make second reading speeches for or against a Bill. The second reading debate is finished when the Member that introduced a Bill replies to the debate. The President of the Legislative Council, or Speaker in the House of Assembly will put the question ‘that this Bill be now read a second time’ to the Members of the House.  

If majority of Members agree, a third reading may proceed immediately or if other Members wish to table amendments to a Bill or raise questions, the Bill will move to be ‘in committee’.  

Stage 3: Committee Stage

‘In committee’ means Members of the House considering the Bill in detail, including any amendments to be considered. Each clause of a Bill is considered independently and either agreed to, amended and then agreed to, or rejected by Members. During this process, Members speak to a Bill or amendments, and they can speak more than once on each clause or amendment.  

Some Bills may be referred to a Select Committee at this stage. A Select Committee is a small group of Members that take evidence from witnesses and then report back to the House on if a Bill should proceed.  

Stage 4: Third Reading

At the third reading, Members decide if a Bill agreed to in committee should be passed by the House. This stage usually does not feature debate as the details of a Bill have been clarified or agreed to either during second reading speeches or while in committee. Agreement by the majority of the House at the third reading completes a Bill’s passage in that House.  

Stage 5: Consideration of the other House

Once one House as agreed to a Bill at the third reading it is sent to the other House for consideration. A Bill then goes through the three-reading process and possibly a committee stage before being agreed to by Members of the second House.  

If the second House passes amendments to a Bill, these will be considered by the original House for agreement once the Bill passes the second House. If agreement cannot be reached, a conference between five representatives from each House may occur to reach a compromise. If unsuccessful, a Bill will be laid aside in the second House.  

Stage 6: Assent

Once a Bill and any amendments passes both Houses, copies are printed and certified by the President (in the Legislative Council) or Speaker (in the House of Assembly) and the Clerk of the House where it originated. A Bill is then presented to the Governor for assent where the Governor’s signature is added, and the public seal of the State is impressed to represent a Bill converting into an Act.  

For a PDF version of this chart see here.

What are parliamentary titles and who gets them?

Now that we’re through South Australia’s state election (minus the Bragg by-election, more on that here) and the federal election, let’s talk about the parliamentary titles you might have seen throughout and following.

In SA there are MPs, MLCs and Hon. (Honorable) members, and where each individual parliamentarian sits and what their role is determines the title they hold.

To start with, MPs or Members of Parliament are the members in the House of Assembly (lower house). These members represent and were voted in by their electorate. For example, the Leader of the Opposition and Member for Black is David Speirs MP.

MLCs or Members of the Legislative Council are members elected to the Legislative Council (upper house) and all of these members are Honorable. For example, the Hon Robert Simms MLC holds the Youth portfolio for The Greens.

Cabinet Ministers and the speaker (more info on them here) in the lower house are also awarded the Hon. title. For example, the Minister for Human Services and Member for Hurtle Vale is the Hon Nat Cook MP.

What is a house Speaker and what do they do?

The Speaker is a member of the House of Assembly, who is elected by all the Members of the House of Assembly as the Chairperson of the house. Changes to legislation in late 2021 now means that the Speaker cannot be a member of or actively participate in proceedings of a political party except during a ‘relevant election period’ (from July 1 the year before a general election of the House). 

This means if an elected Speaker is a member of a political party when elected, they have until the end of the day on which they were elected as Speaker to resign from their party or they vacate the office of the Speaker, and another Member is elected.

The House elect one Member to be Speaker at their first gathering post an election and will elect another Member from the House as Speaker if the previous Member resigns, dies, or is removed by a vote.

The current Speaker of the House of Assembly is the Hon. Dan Cregan MP who is the member for Kavel and has held this position since these changes to the legislation.

So what does the Speaker do?

The main role of the Speaker is to make sure that meetings of the House of Assembly are kept to order and that the rules and procedures of the house are followed. They’re like an umpire for parliamentary debates, it’s their job to ensure everyone is treated fairly which often includes making a call on whether remarks made are relevant or offensive.

They don’t usually take part in debates, but call on Members who wish to speak or ask questions and put forward the questions that Members vote on and announces the results of each vote. The Speaker will only vote themselves to break a tie.

It's also their job to sign any messages from the House of Assembly (lower house) to the Legislative Council (upper house) as the spokesperson for the house. Read more of the Speaker’s responsibilities here.

The Speaker is a vital part of our parliament, presiding over the house they begin and conclude sittings and keep other members in order to ensure legislation is fairly debated so they must act with both authority and impartiality. But all of their decisions are subject to the will of the House and can be challenged, overturned or upheld by a motion of the House. They must be challenged by a motion, any other inference, allegation or imputation that the Chair has acted inadequately or improperly, however indirect or ambiguous, is considered disorderly conduct.

What is 'the budget'?

You might have noticed that every year there is a swirl of excitement for some and frustration for others over what is called ‘the budget’. Basically, since the Federal Government oversees where funding goes and what to spend that money on, they do that through an annual budget. While they can make any decisions about spending whenever they like, the budget shows us how much they’re bringing in and how much they’re spending overall as well as details on what is being funds are being spent where.

There is usually a lot of discussion around budget time about whether it is in deficit, meaning the Government needs to take on debt to cover spending over the amount taxes and investments can cover, or in surplus, meaning taxes and investments more than cover spending and there is money left over. Now while deficit can produce negative responses, it is important to remember that a government budget is vastly different to a household budget. The budget delivered by the Federal government has the unique goal of managing the entire economy and government debt itself is distinct from typical debt because governments, especially stable ones with their own currency like Australia, have strong borrowing power and handle debt differently to households.

Essentially, the need to deliver a surplus is seriously exaggerated in Australia and it distracts from what could be the priority of government spending, limiting Australia’s ability to address some of our biggest challenges like climate change, growing generational inequality, the housing crisis and more. It is true that the government cannot spend endlessly because eventually it would impact things like inflation, but it can still shift priority away from delivering a surplus and toward investments for a sustainable and fair future.

The budget also contains many small but important decisions about what the government is choosing to prioritise by outlining the allocation of funds to organisations, projects, or services, as well as any lowering or raising of particular taxes. So, while the budget can feel like an overwhelmingly dry document full of large numbers into the millions and billions, it outlines the current government’s future plans for things like climate action, education, mental health, housing and everything in between.

Stay connected to YACSA’s for more information post-budget release about what’s included in this year’s budget. If you’ve got any budget-related questions, let us know!

When do elections happen?

This year, eligible voters in South Australia have three elections coming up on the calendar. These will happen as three separate elections and polling days as each level of government (which you can read more about here) has their own way of timing elections. So, when do federal, state and local governments have their elections?

State Government

State elections are held once every 4 years, with polling day on the 3rd Saturday of March each time. So, in 2022 the election will fall on Saturday 19 March. There’s only a few reasons that this date could change, the main one being if the federal election is also scheduled for March. If that happens the date can be moved by up to 21 days.

In order to vote in this state election you must be enrolled to vote by 5pm 25 February. Voting in this election is compulsory for eligible voters.

Federal Government

Federal elections happen once every three years, but the exact date and timing is decided by the party in power, so we don’t know the date until an election is called. The last federal election was on 18 May 2019, as of yet all we know about the date of the 2022 election is that it can’t be later than 21 May. The date chosen must be a Saturday.

The Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918 requires at least 33 days between the issue of the writ (an instruction to the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) to hold and election day. While our federal representatives are already getting into election mode the time between the issue of the writ and polling day is when they’ll be campaigning.

In order to vote in this federal election you must be enrolled to vote by 8pm seven calendar days after the writ is issued. Voting in this election is compulsory for eligible voters.

Local Government

In SA state elections are held every four years for all 68 councils except the Municipal Council of Roxby Downs, which operates under its own administration. In 2022 these elections will happen on Thursday 10 November across the state.

In order to vote in your council election you must be enrolled to vote by 5pm 29 July. Voting in local government elections is not compulsory.