Decision details

Moved by Councillor Phelps, seconded by Councillor Chung -

It is resolved that:

(A)        Council note:

(i)          changes to the legislation in the Model Code of Meeting Practice required all local governments in NSW to live stream all Council, Committee and other public meetings by 14 December 2019 so Council activities are readily accessible by constituents;

(ii)         following the state-wide lockdown due to the Covid-19 pandemic, all Council meetings were moved to be held on an online platform;

(iii)        the meetings are currently being held online, and there is proposed NSW legislation to continue allowing remote access for Council meetings to help increase the diversity of people who run for local council, and particularly to attract more women;

(iv)       the Office of Local Government circular 20-09 dated 25 March 2020, on compliance with social distancing requirements to limit the spread of the Covid-19 virus at council and committee meetings states that meetings may be held remotely using audio-visual links;

(v)         other Councils are broadcasting the full online meetings, including current speaker videos;

(vi)       currently, live streams of Council meetings feature only an image detailing which item is being discussed. Those watching the live stream are unable to see who is speaking, and are required to rely on their own knowledge of what Councillors voices sound like; and

(vii)      this provides much room for error and misunderstanding, which can be mitigated through the broadcasting of the full online meeting, including videos of all Councillors; and

(B)        the Chief Executive Officer be requested to:

(i)          facilitate the visual and audio live streaming of online Committee and Council meetings, including videos of Councillors and other speakers; and

(ii)         report back to Councillors via the CEO update.

Carried unanimously.

S129263