2018-12-11 Services & Organisation Committee Agenda

SERVICES & ORGANISATION COMMITTEE MEETING AGENDA                            11 DECEMBER 2018


     Factors against supplementary Automated Recording
     •    Automated Recording alone would seemingly not satisfy the legal requirements under
          the LGA and LGR in relation to the recording of minutes and other mandatory
          information.
     •    Automated Recording could potentially increase legal risks and administrative burden
          and thereby increase Council costs. For example, Council would be required to ensure
          compliance with public recording keeping law, defamation law, copyright law and
          privacy legislation. These risks would be heightened in the case of live streaming or,
          where Automated Recording could not be monitored or edited prior to publication.
          Council may also require further policy development to mitigate any legal risks and
          implement a system of recording.
     •    Council decisions are collective decisions in which the view of the majority of
          Councillors prevails. It is these majority decisions (which are required to be minuted)
          that are ultimately of most significance for Council in terms of accountability. This is
          highlighted in the legislation by the requirement that local government may only exempt
          committees from the requirement to take minutes where it is not making a decision
          (section 272(7)).
     •    Automated Recording could provide incentive for Councillors to raise issues or tailor
          their discussion for personal or political advantage. This could cause disruption,
          contention or hinder Council meetings or its operations. This in turn has the potential
          to lead to disharmony within Council and may effect good governance and public
          confidence in decision making, contrary to the local government principles.
     •    Conversely, conscious of the Automated Recording, Councillors may feel more
          inhibited during Council meetings for example, in asking questions or raising issues of
          concern. “

Previous Council Consideration
Ordinary Meeting, 20 September 2018, Item 1, Page 4
That Council:
A.   Agree to consider options to digitally video and/or voice record, live web stream, and/or
     archive online all formal Committee and Council meetings (including meetings of the
     Planning and Environment Committee, Services and Organisation Committee, General
     Committee, Ordinary Meetings and Special Meetings of Council) and make the live streaming
     and recordings available to the public;
B.   Request the CEO to investigate and recommend the most cost-effective methodologies for
     recording, live web streaming, and/or archiving of all formal Committee and Council
     meetings; and to report to Council on this issue including mechanisms to address Council
     meetings held offsite twice per year;
C.   Note that recordings of meetings or portions of meetings closed to the public pursuant to
     Section 275 of the Local Government Regulation 2012 will not be made available to the
     public; and
D.   Request the CEO to provide his report to Council within 3 months.

Finance
There is no budget provision for this matter as it was not considered as part of the 2018/19 budget
process. If Council wishes to adopt option 3 as recommended, there is a low budget impact which
can be addressed at Budget Review 3. If there are any practical problems with the omnidirectional
microphone approach, a higher cost may be incurred for an individual station microphone system
of approximately $11,000.



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