Council, at its meeting on 14 May 2024, resolved to exhibit the Draft Code of Meeting Practice with amendments to the Councillor Briefing provisions to enhance transparency and accountability.
The purpose of the Code of Meeting Practice is to set out the manner in which meetings of Campbelltown City Council are to be convened and conducted, to be an effective aid to good governance and ensure maximum transparency and openness of all Council and Committee meetings in accordance with the following principles:
• Transparent: Decisions are made in a way that is open and accountable.
• Informed: Decisions are made based on relevant, quality information.
• Inclusive: Decisions respect the diverse needs and interests of the local community.
• Principled: Decisions are informed by the principles prescribed under Chapter 3 of the Act.
• Trusted: The community has confidence that councillors and staff act ethically and make decisions in the interests of the whole community.
• Respectful: Councillors, staff and meeting attendees treat each other with respect.
• Effective: Meetings are well organised, effectively run and skilfully chaired.
• Orderly: Councillors, staff and meeting attendees behave in a way that contributes to the orderly conduct of the meeting.
This amendment to Section 4 – Councillor Briefings of the Code of Meeting Practice resolved by the Council at the May Council meeting is to enable Councillor Briefings to be livestreamed on Council’s website. The proposed new provisions included below for exhibition are in red text, and the proposed deletions are struckthrough as follows:
4. COUNCILLOR BRIEFINGS
4.1 Councillor briefings are conducted to fully inform Councillors of matters of significance or complexity that are to be the subject of a staff report at a future meeting of Council or are of particular current interest to Council.
4.2 Councillor briefings will be held on the first Tuesday of each month except for January when the Council is in recess. Councillor Briefings start at 6:30pm, unless otherwise determined by the Mayor and General Manager.
4.3 The Councillor briefing agenda will be determined by the General Manager and sent to Councillors 3 days prior to the briefing and published on Councils website by 4pm on the day.
4.4 Councillor briefings will be held in accordance with the Councillor Briefing Procedure.
4.5 Councillor briefings will be livestreamed on Council’s website except where an item has been determined confidential.
4.6 Councillor briefing sessions are to be held in the absence of the public in person. Whilst the public are not able to attend the Councillor briefing in person, members of the public are encouraged to observe briefing proceedings on the livestream on Council’s website.
4.7 Councillor briefing sessions may be held by audio-visual link at the discretion of the Mayor and General Manager.
4.8 A Councillor may request to attend an in-person Councillor Briefing by audio visual link in writing to the General Manager in accordance with the Councillor Briefing Procedure.
4.9 The Mayor presides at Councillor briefing sessions.
4.10 Councillors must not use Councillor briefing sessions to debate or make preliminary decisions on items of business they are being briefed on, and any debate and decision-making must be left to the formal Council meeting at which the item of business is to be considered.
4.11 Councillors must declare and manage any conflicts of interest they may have in relation to any item of business that is the subject of a briefing at a Councillor briefing session, in the same way that they are required to do so at a Council meeting. The Council is to maintain a written record of all conflict of interest declarations made at Councillor briefing sessions and how the conflict of interest was managed by the Councillor who made the declaration.
4.12 On occasion, confidential matters will be presented at Councillor Briefings and this will be noted in the presentation and accompanying documentation. The Mayor and General Manager may determine confidentiality of items as guided by the principles in section 10A (2) of the Local Government Act 1993 or other relevant considerations. Councillors and staff must maintain the integrity and security of confidential documents or information distributed or discussed at Councillor Briefings, in accordance with the Code of Meeting Practice, Codes of Conduct and supporting policies.
4.13 External (non-staff) subject matter experts may be engaged to present at a Councillor briefing at the discretion of the General Manager. The briefing presentation by an external subject matter expert will only be webcast with their consent.
Hard copies will also be available for viewing at the following locations:
- Customer Service Centre - Corner Queen and Broughton Streets, Campbelltown
- HJ Daley Library - 1 Hurley St, Campbelltown
- Eagle vale Library - 25 Emerald Drive, Eagle Vale
- Glenquarie Library - 12 Brooks St, Macquarie Fields
- Greg Percival Library - Cnr Oxford Rd and Cumberland Rd, Ingleburn
Make a submission
- Complete the submission form below or
- E-mail - council@campbelltown.nsw.gov.au or
- Forward your submission in writing addressed to the General Manager, Campbelltown City Council, PO Box 57, Campbelltown NSW 2560.
Please quote reference to Draft Code of Meeting Practice – Councillor Briefing Amendment.
Submissions close 5pm Friday 28 June 2024.
