Governance shakeup proposed

A MAJOR shakeup of council Governance Rules is proposed in South Gippsland Shire, with community members encouraged to have their say.

Shifts in technology use are reflected in the now-adopted draft version of Governance Rules, with E-petitions to be accepted if they meet specified petition requirements, and councillors able to apply to attend meetings virtually.

The Victorian Government recently passed the Regulatory Legislation Amendment (Reform) Act 2022, which from September 2, enables the state’s councils to permanently conduct ‘virtual meetings’ in accordance with their Governance Rules.

“The changes to the Act require councils to include a process to approve or decline virtual attendance at council and delegated committee meetings in their Governance Rules,” council states in its September meeting agenda.

“A councillor or member of a delegated committee must be able to be seen and heard to be considered present at the meeting,” council’s draft Governance Rules specify.

Should required technology not be available at the meeting location, virtual attendance can be disallowed.

Serial submitters of public questions to council, to be addressed during meetings, are proposed to be bumped down the order of priority, giving preference to those who haven’t submitted a question in the previous 12 months.

With a strict time limit applying to the reading of questions during meetings, those further down the queue may have their questions taken on notice and answered later, rather than being heard during the meeting.

Community members can have their say on the draft version of council’s Governance Rules 2022 until October 7.

They can do so via council’s community engagement platform Your Say South Gippsland, or by sending a written submission addressed to the coordinator of governance at council@southgippsland.vic.gov.au