Circulars

What’s new or changing

• Since 14 December 2019, councils have been required to webcast meetings of the council and committees that comprise only of councillors. The webcasting requirement may be met simply by posting an audio or video recording of the meeting on the council’s website.
• The Model Code of Meeting Practice for Local Councils in NSW requires councils to specify in their codes of meeting practice, the minimum time period that a webcast recording will be made publicly available on a council’s website but does not prescribe a minimum period.
• Based on NSW State Archives and Records guidance, the Office of Local Government’s (OLG) Guide to Webcasting Council and Committee Meetings recommends that webcast recordings of meetings should be retained on councils’ websites for a minimum of 12 months.
• The requirement for councils to retain recordings of meetings on their websites for at least 12 months is now prescribed under the Local Government (General) Regulation 2005.

What this will mean for your council

• Councils must amend their codes of meeting practice to require recordings of meetings of the council and committees that comprise only of councillors to be retained on the council’s website for 12 months or more if they do not already provide for this.
• Councils are still required to livestream their meetings via an audio-visual link where members of the public are excluded from attending meetings due to COVID-19.

Key Points

• The amendments to the Regulation require each meeting of a council or committee that comprises only of councillors to be recorded by means of an audio or audio-visual device.
• The recording is to be made publicly available on the council’s website at the same time as the meeting is taking place, or as soon as practicable after the meeting.
• The recording of a meeting is to be made publicly available on the council’s website for at least 12 months after the meeting.
• At the start of each meeting of a council or council committee, the chairperson must inform the persons attending the meeting that the meeting is being recorded and made publicly available on the council’s website, and persons attending the meeting should refrain from making any defamatory statements.
• These requirements do not apply to any part of a meeting that has been closed to the public in accordance with section 10A of the Local Government Act 1993.
• The requirements do not apply to joint organisations.

Where to go for further information

• Contact OLG’s Council Governance Team by phone on (02) 4428 4100 or by email at olg@olg.nsw.gov.au.

Tim Hurst
Deputy Secretary
Local Government, Planning and Policy