If you want to address a committee meeting in any of its public sessions, or submit correspondence to a committee or the Council, you will need to know what exactly is being considered at each meeting and a few things about how meetings are run. You will also need to think about the most effective way to get across your point of view.
First, being informed about meetings
Agendas, reports and minutes of the current Council and its Committees are on our web site and for inspection at the customer desk in the Town Hall Administration Building, 120 Swanston Street.
A schedule of Council and Committee meeting dates is available for 2012 as well as a Fact Sheet which contains useful information pertaining to the Committees.
We try to publish the unconfirmed minutes of the meeting on our web site within 48 hours of the meeting. They are confirmed as correct at the next scheduled meeting.
Documents are published on our website four days before a scheduled ordinary meeting (ie noon on Friday before a Tuesday meeting). A DRAFT agenda is also uploaded to Council's website by close of business on the Wednesday before a Tuesday meeting. If you would like to be notified by email of when documents are available or changes to the schedule of meeting dates, please email the Council Business team. Otherwise, you can complete the notification of meetings and availability of documentation form and post it to Council Business, City of Melbourne, GPO Box 1603, Melbourne, 3001.
Making a Submission
All submissions are to be received by Council no later than noon on the day of the meeting for them to be considered.
Anybody may address a committee or submit correspondence in relation to any item listed on the agenda for that meeting. Generally speaking, submittors are not heard at Council meetings.
Submissions or requests to be heard are to be made in writing via one of the following methods:
- email: com.meetings@melbourne.vic.gov.au
- hand delivery: Manager Governance Services,
c/ Front Desk, City of Melbourne,
Melbourne Town Hall Administration Building,
120 Swanston Street, Melbourne 3000
- mail: Manager Governance Services, City of Melbourne,
GPO Box 1603, Melbourne 3001
Submissions or requests to be heard should include:
- the agenda item and report title you want to speak or write about;
- your key points;
- the name of the group/organisation you are representing and your role;
- your contact details particularly email and phone/mobile; and
- any equipment you will need to address the committee (if requesting to be heard).
If you are requesting to be heard, and also wish to submit an electronic presentation, it is preferred this is received by email in powerpoint format by noon on the day of the meeting. Submissions and presentations submitted electronically are to be no greater than 2MB in file size.
Committee’s give speakers three minutes to present their views and encourage groups to nominate a single speaker. Speakers must be present at the time the item is considered by the Committee or they will lose their opportunity to address the Committee. When a Council officer has presented the agenda item, the chair of the Committee will invite speakers to address the Committee. Speakers are called in the order in which the requests were received.
Privacy
The personal information provided with a submission is collected by Council for the purpose of considering the submission at the Council or Committee meeting. All submissions are circulated to Councillors and the relevant Council staff prior to a meeting. Submissions form part of the public record and are available for inspection in Council's offices for an indefinite period. All submitter's names are read out during the meeting and recorded in the meeting minutes which are published on Council's website.
If you have any queries about privacy in relation to submissions, or wish to make an anonymous submission, please contact Council on 03 9658 9658 or emailing the Council Business team.