Why we're consulting
We are consulting the community to receive feedback on a small number of changes to the Governance Rules.
What we hope to achieve
We hope to update the Governance Rules to improve the wording in a small number of sections where there is some inconsistency and ambiguity with the rules.
Background
Under the Local Government Act 2020 (the Act) the council must adopt and keep in force Governance Rules. Council’s Governance Rules were last updated in August 2022.
Amongst other things Governance Rules are required to regulate the conduct of council meetings, stipulate how councillors and officers will disclose conflicts of interest, and establish that decision making must be balanced, ethical and impartial and adhere to the principals of natural justice.
Wodonga Council’s Governance Rules are largely based on a template from council's lawyer, Maddocks, and the proposed amendments are in line with specific legal advice.
What changes are proposed?
In the light of recent experience council proposes a small number of minor changes in relation the Mayoral election, notices of motion, minuting, and the disclosure by officers of conflicts of interest.
The changes proposed include:
Introduction – Definitions, additional definition for an Advisory Committee
Introduction – Definitions, additional text to clarify the definition of the word “Council” throughout the document
- Chapter two, sub-rule 6.1 and the process for the election of the Mayor;
- Chapter two, sub-rule 24.3 and the requirement for submitting a notice of motion;
- Chapter two, a new sub-rule 74.1.15 to deal with a new inclusion with minuting;
- Chapter three – Delegated Committees – a change to the words to allow delegated committees to establish their meeting procedures
- Chapter five, sub-rule 1.1 and rule 5, amendment to address requirement for members of Advisory Committees to disclose a conflict of interest.
- Chapter five, sub-rules 6.2 and 6.3 be amended to remove ambiguity with the disclosure by officers of a conflict of interest.
- There are several other minor changes to update references to council policies and the title of chapter two.
Ways to have your say
This consultation is open from March 22 to April 18.
You are invited to review the information provided, ask questions and provide feedback during this time.
Ways to provide feedback for consideration: