Public question time

Meetings of Council

Question time will be available at every scheduled Meeting of Council to enable members of the public to address questions to Council.

All questions (maximum of two per person) must be submitted via the online form below or in person by completing a Public Question form provided at the Customer Service Counter at the Melton Civic Centre and placing it in the receptacle designated for public questions.

All questions must be received by no later than 12 noon on the day of the scheduled Meeting of Council.

For information on the conduct of Public Questions, refer to section 54 of Council's Governance Rules(PDF, 200KB).

Visit our Council Meetings webpage for the 2023 schedule of meeting dates and locations.

Click here to view form.

 

Privacy Collection Statement:

Please note that as your question has been presented to a public meeting of the Council, your name (or pseudonym if used) will appear in the meeting minutes and become a public record.  Other personal information may also be used so that a written reply can be sent to you.  To view Council’s Privacy Policy, please visit Council’s offices or our Privacy Policies webpage.

Council will ensure that your personal information is held securely in accordance with the Privacy and Data Protection Act 2014 (Vic).

Public Question Time Statement

Question time will be available at every scheduled Meeting of Council to enable members of the public to address questions to Council.  

A scheduled meeting means a meeting of Council fixed in accordance with Chapter 2 – Meeting Procedure for Council Meetings, Division 1 – Meetings Procedure, Rule 9. 

See the following extract from the Council’s Governance Rules

Questions submitted to Council must be:

Division 8 - Public Question Time 
54. Question Time 
54.1
  
 There must be a public question time at every Council meeting fixed under Rule 9 to enable members of the public to submit questions to Council.
54.2 
  		 Sub-Rule 54.1 does not apply during any period when a meeting is closed to members of the public in accordance with section 66(2) of the Act.
54.3
  
  		 Public question time will not exceed 15 minutes in duration unless extended by further blocks of 15 minutes duration by resolution, up to a maximum of 2 further blocks.

54.4

Questions submitted to Council must be::
 

54.4.1
  

 in writing, state the name and address of the person submitting the question and generally be in a form approved or permitted by Council; and
 

 54.4.2
  
  

 placed in the receptacle designated for the purpose at the place of the meeting prior to 12noon on the day of the Council meeting, or be lodged electronically at the prescribed email address prior to 12noon on the day of the Council meeting.
54.5  No person may submit more than two questions at any one meeting.

54.6

If a person has submitted two questions to a meeting, the second question:
  54.6.1
  
  		 may, at the discretion of the Chair, be deferred until all other persons who have asked a question have had their questions asked and answered; or
  54.6.2
  		 may not be asked if the time allotted for public question time has expired.
54.7
   
  		 The Chair or a member of Council staff nominated by the Chair may read to those present at the meeting a question which has been submitted in accordance with this Rule.

54.8
  
  

 

 

 

 

Notwithstanding sub-Rule 54.6, when Council meetings are conducted in person, the Chair may refrain from reading a question or having a question read if the person who submitted the question is not present in the gallery at the time when the question is due to be read where the person has either:
54.8.1
  
  		 not sought an exemption from the Chief Executive Officer from attending on the basis of health issues and/or caring responsibilities, or their inability to travel long distances; or 
54.8.2
  
  

had their application for exemption from attending pursuant to 54.8 rejected

54.9

A question may be disallowed by the Chair if the Chair determines that it:
  54.9.1 relates to a matter outside the duties, functions and powers of Council;
  54.9.2
  		 is defamatory, indecent, abusive, offensive, irrelevant, trivial or objectionable in language or substance;
  54.9.3 deals with a subject matter already answered;
  54.9.4 is aimed at embarrassing a Councillor or a member of Council staff;
  54.9.5 relates to personnel matters;
  54.9.6 relates to the personal hardship of any resident or ratepayer;
  54.9.7 relates to industrial matters;
  54.9.8 relates to contractual matters;
  54.9.9  relates to proposed developments;
  54.9.10 relates to legal advice;
  54.9.11 relates to matters affecting the security of Council property; or
  54.9.12
  		 relates to any other matter which Council considers would prejudice Council or any person.
54.10
   		 Any question which has been disallowed by the Chair must be made available to any other Councillor upon request.
54.11
  		 All questions and answers must be as brief as possible, and no discussion may be allowed other than by Councillors for the purposes of clarification.
54.12 Like questions may be grouped together and a single answer provided.
54.13
  		 The Chair may nominate a Councillor or the Chief Executive Officer to respond to a question.
54.14
  
  		 A Councillor or the Chief Executive Officer may require a question to be put on notice.  If a question is put on notice, a written copy of the answer will be sent to the person who asked the question.
54.15
  
  
  

  		 A Councillor or the Chief Executive Officer may advise Council that it is his or her opinion that the reply to a question should be given in a meeting closed to members of the public. The Councillor or Chief Executive Officer (as the case may be) must state briefly the reason why the reply should be so given and, unless Council resolves to the contrary, the reply to such question must be so given.

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

  

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