Council adopted the Governance Rules 2022 on 20 July 2022. The Governance Rules are a requirement of the Local Government Act 2020 (the Act). Community feedback was sought on the draft Governance Rules 2022 from 21 April – 20 May 2022. Council received submissions from 10 individuals and two community organisations. Feedback was provided on:

• Public Question Time
• Gendered language
• Election of the Mayor
• Election Period Policy
• Notices of Motion
• Casting vote
• Agenda order
• Speaking times

Officers would like to thank the members of the community for their submissions.

A summary of changes made is below. Where suggested changes couldn’t be made, it was due to legislative requirements that prescribe certain conditions in the conduct of Council and Committee meetings.

Areas of change included:

• Removal of gendered language throughout.
• Election of the Mayor must be by absolute majority, the provision of ‘lots’ is no longer allowed under the Act.
• Additional provisions to support electronic/virtual attendance at meetings, where permitted by legislation.
• Amended provision to align with Rescission motions. A Notice of Motion that is lost cannot come before Council for a period of three months.
• Election Period Policy updated to include provisions for Councillor candidates in State and Federal elections.
• Public Question Time updated to provide clarity that a question that has been disallowed will not be read out at the meeting.