Thank you to everyone who provided feedback on the proposed changes to Council's draft Chapter 3 Governance Rules - Community Participation in Council Meetings.

The Stage 2 Governance Rules review community engagement period closed on 20 July 2023. Officers are currently finalising analysis of all feedback received during the consultation to assist with recommendations to Council.

The proposed Chapter 3 Governance Rules will be presented to Council for consideration and adoption at the Council Meeting on 30 October 2023. This differs from previous communication that the proposed rules would be presented at the 25 September Council Meeting.

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Stage 2 - Community Participation in Council Meetings

In November 2022, Council adopted its Governance Rules and Election Policy and committed to undertaking Stage 2 of the Governance Rules review in 2023, which focuses on community participation in Council meetings.

The Stage 2 review will create a new chapter in our Governance Rules, Chapter 3, and will look at the ways community can participate in Council meetings. This engagement will help us understand how our community want to participate in Council meetings, before we commit to a new set of Rules.

Having Governance Rules in place is a requirement under law and establishing guidelines on community participation in Council meetings lets the community know how and when they can take part in Council meetings.

From 29 June 2023, we asked for your feedback on the proposed changes to Council's draft Chapter 3 Governance Rules - Community Participation in Council Meetings. Thank you for participating, feedback is now closed.

We wanted to know what we were doing right and where things needed to improve.

Engagement opportunities included:

• Online survey from 29 June 2023
• In-person workshops

The Governance Rules and Election Period Policy was adopted by Council on 14 November 2022 with one amendment:

• Councillor speaking time for ‘right of reply’ was extended from the proposed time of 1 minute to a speaking time of 2 minutes.

Watch a recording of the Council Meeting or view the Council minutes and report here.

What you told us

In September 2022, we asked for your feedback on the proposed changes to the Governance Rules. We received 21 contributions to our online survey on Shaping Banyule with overwhelming support for the proposed changes. See levels of support below.

Governance Rules

The Governance Rules guide Council meeting procedures, voting processes, debate, the election of the mayor and
deputy mayor, and community participation in Council meetings. They are required under Section 60 of the Local Government Act 2020.

From September 2022, a change to the Local Government Act 2020 permanently allowed councils to conduct meetings online. This prompted us to look at how virtual meetings took place and other changes to our governance rules based on best practice.