Knox City Council are proposing changes to our Governance Rules to improve various Council processes and protocols, including Council meetings.
Reviewing our Governance Rules helps us to ensure that they continue to meet Council and community needs.
Council recently amended our Meeting Structures and Cycles Policy, and will introduce a second Council meeting each month.
We are reflecting this change in our draft Governance Rules.
The second Council meeting will commence from 1 January 2024, and it will replace the Strategic Planning Committee.
The second Council meeting will be referred to as the mid-month Council meeting.
This change will give Council the same decision making ability in both the mid-month and end of month Council meetings.
Other administrative changes have been proposed to the Election Period Policy (Chapter 7 of the Governance Rules) in preparation for the Council election in 2024, including updating election dates.
Changes to Public Question time have been proposed including improving accessibility by allowing community members to participate online, and setting a 12pm closing time for submissions on the day of the end of month Council meeting.
Additional safety measures are being proposed to ensure Council meetings are a safe environment for our community, Councillors and staff.
Safety measures include prohibiting signs and placards in Council chambers, and measures that if activated, the CEO and Mayor have the discretion to impose conditions for entry (request registration and identification).
These proposed changes are recommendations made by the State Government.
Community feedback on closes on 3 December 2023.
Further information is available on haveyoursay.knox.vic.gov.au/review-governance-rules
All Councils are required to have Governance Rules, in accordance to section 60 of the Local Government Act 2020.
The rules cover areas that include the conduct of Council meetings, public participation at Council meetings, and the election of the Mayor and the Deputy Mayor.
