Banyule Council’s Governance Rules were first adopted on 18 August 2020.

All councils are required to have governance rules in place which set the rules for Council meetings and other governance matters.

When online meetings became a necessity during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Victorian Government approved temporary changes to the legislation to allow Council meetings to take place online.

These temporary rules expired at the end of August 2022. It was a Victorian Government requirement that all councils across Victoria review and update their governance rules by 1 September 2022.

This change has given councils the flexibility to hold meetings in a way that best supports good decision-making.

Banyule Council is committed to good governance and took the opportunity to review Rules and propose changes.

Governance Rules provides a way for Council to consider and make decisions on any matter fairly and on its merits.

Section 60 of the Local Government Act 2020 states that Council must develop, adopt and use Governance Rules in relation to:

• the conduct of council meetings
• the conduct of delegated committee meetings;
• the form and availability of meeting records;
• the election of the Mayor and Deputy Mayor and appointment of an Acting Mayor;
• the election period policy; and
• the procedures for the disclosure of conflicts of interest.

Community engagement on the proposed Governance Rules has now closed. The survey was open from 6 to 27 September 2022. Council considered community feedback and adopted the revised rules in November 2022.

Public Participation will be reviewed in 2023 as Stage 2 of the review. The community will be invited to share their thoughts on the public participation elements of the Governance Rules; which include:

• Petitions and joint letters;
• Request to address; and
• Public question time

Governance Rules do not reflect all councillor conduct matters as councillor obligations and conduct standards go beyond their behaviour and conduct at Council meetings and therefore are captured in their Code of Conduct.

The Councillor Code of Conduct includes the rules, requirements, conduct obligations and standards that Councillors must follow as part of their role.

Council are required to have a separate Councillor Code of Conduct adopted as per section 139 of the Act.