Writers Victoria petition achieves 10,000 signatures

A petition to restore funding for Writers Victoria has gained more than 10,000 signatures, a number sufficient to trigger a debate in the Victorian parliament.

Writers Victoria launched the petition in January to restore its funding after it was refused multi-year support in the latest Creative Victoria funding round.

Under Victorian government legislation, an e-petition with 10,000 signatures or a paper petition that attracts more than 2000 signatures automatically initiates a debate in the Legislative Council. The debate provides a formal avenue to challenge existing laws. Up to 30 minutes has been set aside for debates on petitions on Wednesday evenings, with each member able to speak for five minutes on the petition and the petition sponsor having an additional two minutes to reply to other members’ contributions. All tabled petitions must receive a written response from the relevant minister within 30 days.

Writers Victoria said, “Thank you so much to everyone who has helped, we are so grateful and thank you for all the support and love! I have been overwhelmed by the wonderful stories of how Writers Victoria has helped so many writers, the difference it has made to your practice and let’s hope that we can get back on track and survive this brutal cut!”

Category: Local news