Governance Rules Update

Council adopted its updated Governance Rules with amendments at its 26 October Council Meeting.

About

At its 28 September meeting, Council endorsed a review of its existing Governance Rules, and that the document with proposed changes be placed on public exhibition, with any submissions to be heard at its next scheduled meeting.

Under the Local Government Act 2020, councils must have clear, instructive and transparent Governance Rules, which cover:

• the conduct of Council meetings;
• the conduct of meetings of delegated committees;
• the form and availability of meeting records;
• the election of the Mayor and the Deputy Mayor;
• the appointment of an Acting Mayor;
• an election period policy; and
• the procedures for the disclosure of a conflict of interest.

Council adopted its existing Governance Rules on 25 August 2020, and in line with the Local Government Act 2020, Council is proposing several changes to the document following a review. The proposed nine rule changes and six new rules are intended to provide additional clarity, definition and structure to procedural aspects of the Council Meeting process, including the calling of unscheduled council meetings and Notices of Motion.

Updated Governance Rules

Engagement Update

The updated Governance Rules were on public exhibition from 29 September 2021 to 19 October 2021. The updated document is available to read online on this page and copies were also available at Council’s Customer Service Centres at 2 Pope Street, Bannockburn and 19 Heales Street, Smythesdale.

Written submissions were invited from any person, and were able to be submitted online, by email or by mail before 11.59pm, Tuesday 19 October.

Community members were able to request in their submission to be heard in support of their submission at the Council meeting on 26 October 2021. Submitters were also able to nominate a representative to present their submission, and will be advised of in-person and/or virtual presentation options.

There were no submissions recieved during the public exhibition period, and at it's October meeting Council adopted the Governance Rules with an alternate motion that the amendments to the Governance Rules are brought back to the chamber for re-evaluation in a period of six months; and an amendment to clause 25.2.2 to change the figure from $100,000 to $10,000.

What Happens Next

In adopting the updated Governance Rules at the October meeting, Council agreed that the amendments to the Governance Rules will be brought back to the chamber for re-evaluation in a period of six months.

Links

Updated Governance Rules