We invite the community to provide feedback on the Draft Code of Meeting Practice.

The NSW Office of Local Government released a new Model Code of Meeting Practice for Local Councils in NSW on Friday 29 August 2025, (NSW OLG Circular 25-20). The new 2025 Model Meeting Code has been published in the Government Gazette and is expected to be prescribed under the Local Government (General) Regulation 2021 (the Regulation) shortly.

The new Model Code of Meeting Practice comprises mandatory and non-mandatory provisions.

Councils must adopt a Code of Meeting Practice that incorporates the mandatory provisions of the Model Code of Meeting Practice no later than 31 December 2025.

Council has reviewed the new Model Code of Meeting Practice for Local Councils in NSW with regards to Council’s current Mode of Meeting Practice and developed the Draft Code of Meeting Practice 2025. In doing so, it is recommended that Council adopt all mandatory and non-mandatory provisions of the Model Code, together with several supplementary provisions that are contained in the current Code of Meeting Practice that are considered appropriate for inclusion in the new code and are not inconsistent with any of the mandatory provisions

The new Draft Code of Meeting Practice 2025 contains different coloured text to highlight the distinction between mandatory provisions (black text), non-mandatory provisions (red text) and supplementary provisions (green text).

A key focus of the changes made to the 2025 Model Meeting Code is to ensure meetings are conducted in a dignified and orderly way befitting to a chamber of democracy and to promote community confidence in councils and their decisions.

The following is a list of the areas of the major changes, noting they are all ‘mandatory provisions’ that cannot be altered:

• Prohibition on pre-meeting briefing sessions,
• Public forums,
• Dealing with disorder,
• Councillors’ attendance at meetings by audio-visual link,
• New rules of etiquette at meetings,
• Making information considered at closed meetings public,
• Power of Expulsion,
• Record of Voting,
• Dealing with Items by Exception,
• Recommitting resolutions to correct an error; and
• Time limits on Council Meetings

The public forum provisions are now mandatory and is for councils to determine whether to hold public forums before council meetings. Council has endorsed the proposal to conduct Public Forums immediately prior to Ordinary Council Meetings with a commencement time of 6.30pm and a conclusion time of 7.30pm.

Have Your Say

Have your say by providing a submission that can be made by using the Submissions button.

Alternatively, you can lodge a written submission to the General Manager by quoting SU837 by:

• Email: service@lanecove.nsw.gov.au or,
• Post: Lane Cove Council, PO BOX 20, LANE COVE, NSW, 1595

This consultation will close on Tuesday 04 November 2025