2018-12-11 Services & Organisation Committee Agenda

SERVICES & ORGANISATION COMMITTEE MEETING AGENDA                             11 DECEMBER 2018


Risks & Opportunities
There are a number of risks and opportunities associated with the proposal to live video stream
Council meetings. These include:
1.   There is no equivalent of parliamentary privilege for local government. Proceedings in the
     State and Commonwealth parliaments have legal protections for participants against
     defamation and other legal proceedings. Local governments currently have no such
     protection and statements or comments in meetings are subject to the laws of defamation
     etc. This has always been the case and the only difference now would be that there is a
     clear and concise record of what has been said which will be available for future reference.
     Currently, that is not the case.
2.   Some of our community may perceive that the video recording of the meeting is the official
     record of the meeting. That is not the case. Only the minutes of the meeting are the true
     record of the Council decisions.
3.   It is possible that Councillors or staff may be quoted out of context based on their debate or
     response to questions at a Council meeting. As Councillors would be aware, debates may
     flow in a Council meeting with different points of view being put forward. In this social media
     age, there is a risk that a comment may be taken out of context with an intent to twist a
     comment into something that it was not meant to be. Unfortunately, we live in an age where
     this is becoming more frequent.
4.   There may be a perception that some will “play to the camera” as part of the meeting process.
     Interestingly, the CEO of Central Highlands Regional Council advised that the experience at
     their Council is that overall behaviours at Council meetings has improved since the
     introduction of live video streaming. He observed a positive difference between those
     meetings where live video streaming occurred compared to those where it didn’t.
5.   Staff may become more cautious in responding to “on the spot” questions from Councillors
     and take such questions on notice to ensure that they are 100% correct before answering. It
     may be embarrassing to a staff member to provide an answer that is publicly available on
     video if they are not able to check the facts while at a Council meeting. Some staff have also
     raised potential concerns about being on public video when they are not public figures. Any
     staff members currently attending a Committee meeting are already speaking in front of the
     media and any members of the public attending but they are not currently on permanent
     video for future viewing by the broader community. The location and direction of the proposed
     camera in the Council Chambers may help mitigate some of these concerns.
6.   Across Australia, there has been a reported general decline in the level of trust of government
     institutions by communities. In Queensland, the trials and tribulations of a number of high
     profile local governments (e.g. Ipswich, Logan and Fraser Coast) has certainly eroded
     confidence in the local government sector, resulting in the Belcarra report and subsequent
     reforms. Anything we can do to engender more trust in local government is to be encouraged
     and making meetings available to more people is one way of doing that.

Consultation
External Consultation - Community & Stakeholder
 A range of Queensland and interstate Councils who currently undertake live video streaming
   of their Council meetings have been contacted.
 Queensland State Archives
 Queensland Integrity Commissioner (via request from Councillor Jurisevic)




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