At its meeting on 20 April 2021, Council will consider commencing a review of the Governance Rules 2020.

It is proposed that this review will include a period of public consultation from 22 April until 19 May 2021 to seek community feedback on proposed changes and provide the newly elected 2020-2024 Council an opportunity to refine and enhance the existing Governance Rules.

Two key changes are recommended in the Agenda as part of this review, both regarding ‘Chapter 2 – Meeting Procedure for Council Meetings’:

1. Individual presentations (sections 59 to 63) become written statements to be submitted by 9am the day before the relevant meeting, instead of speakers attending Council meetings.
2. Public questions (Section 57) must be submitted by 9am the day before the relevant meeting (instead of 11am).

Changes to submission format and deadlines are designed to provide Councillors with more time to consider submissions, while transitioning from verbal to written submissions has also been recommended to encourage fairness and participation and keep meetings to a reasonable duration. Data included in the agenda shows there’s been a 155% increase in engagement with Council meetings since written statements were introduced in March 2020 due to COVID restrictions.

You can read the Council Agenda here or watch the meeting live from 6.30pm on Tuesday 20 April 2021 here.

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