It’s a Victorian Government requirement that all Councils across Victoria review and update their governance rules by 1 September 2022.

This is to reflect a change to the Local Government Act to allow online Council meetings – something which has been only possible through temporary legislation to date. This change will give Councils the flexibility to hold meetings in a way that best supports good decision-making.

Yarra City Council is committed to good governance and has taken the opportunity to review the full set of governance rules. A Municipal Monitor was appointed six months ago to oversee and guide good governance and has supported the process of reviewing the governance rules. A benchmarking exercise was conducted as part of this proposal to compare Yarra’s governance rules against those of neighbouring Councils, to allow Council and the community to consider best practice.

The draft rules are being presented to Council on Tuesday for endorsement to go out for a public consultation process. Council will be seeking community feedback on the new rules from June 6, including via yoursayyarra.com.au. The community will have one month to provide their feedback, and this feedback will be used to inform Council’s final decision, and any changes made to the governance rules.