The Local Government Act 2020 (the Act) requires Council to adopt and maintain Governance Rules.  When online meetings became a necessity during the pandemic, the Victorian Government approved temporary changes to the legislation to allow council meetings to take place online and these changes expired on 1 September 2022.

However, Amendments have been made to the Act that make permanent changes in relation to electronic attendance and participation at Council meetings, by requiring relevant procedures to be incorporated into the Governance Rules.  This includes:

·        the meeting formats that Council may use;

·        how a meeting format may be determined; and

·        the process for Councillors or members of delegated committees to request attendance via electronic means of communication.

The revised Governance Rules addressing these legislative changes were adopted by Council at an Unscheduled Meeting held on Tuesday 30 August 2022. The updated Governance Rules can be found at: Governance Rules (eastgippsland.vic.gov.au)

Next steps - Council will undertake a broader review of the Governance Rules to fully consider all feedback received recently and additional community consultation will take place prior to any further amendments being considered by Council. We would like to thank the community for their feedback so far.

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