Draft Code of Meeting Practice

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Each Council in NSW has a Code of Meeting Practice (Code) which sets out the rules of Ordinary Council and Committee Meetings of Council, to ensure these meetings are open, accessible, orderly, effective and efficient.

On August 2025, the Office of the Local Government (OLG) updated the Model Code of Meeting Practice. We have updated our Code of Meeting Practice and we are exhibiting the draft Code for public feedback. We invite you to share your feedback by Thursday, 20 November 2025.

The draft Code of Meeting Practice is available on the documents panel. The new draft Code details the following:

  • Orange – new mandatory provisions which must be adopted by Council;
  • Green – Mosman Council Practice;
  • Red – non-mandatory provisions;
  • Purple – non-mandatory provisions that have already been adopted by Council’s current Code of Meeting Practice; and
  • Blue – new additional non-mandatory provisions that are being proposed by staff in order to make the section clearer.

Overview

Council’s current Code was adopted in May 2025, however, OLG has advised that all councils must have a Code of Meeting Practice which meets the new requirements by 31 December 2025.

The Code will apply to Council meetings and Committee meetings of Council. Key changes in our draft Code include:

Councillor's attendance at Council Meetings by audio-visual link: the option to attend meetings by audio-visual link has been restricted to where Councillors are prevented from attending a meeting in person because of ill-health or other medical reasons or because of unforeseen caring responsibilities (Clause 5.18).

Absences from Council Meetings: where Councillors are unable to attend one or more Council or Committee meetings, the new provisions encourage Councillors to submit an apology for the meeting/s and Council must determine by resolution whether to grant the Councillor a leave of absence for the meeting (Cl 5.6).

Mayoral Minutes: A Mayoral Minute may be put to a Meeting without notice (previously a notice period was required) on any matter or topic that the Mayor determines should be considered at the meeting (Cl 9.7 - 9.10).

Rules of Debate have been simplified and the rules governing the foreshadowing of motions and amendments have been removed. Council will no longer have the option of reducing the duration of speeches to less than 5 minutes. However, Council can continue to have other options to expedite business at Meetings, such as moving that a motion be put where the necessary conditions have been satisfied and to resolve to deal with items by exception.

Dealing with Disorder: Council is required to decide for each Council term, whether to authorise the person presiding at a meeting to exercise a power of expulsion (Cl 15.11 - 15.24). The definition of acts of disorder by Councillors have changed. (Clause 15.11) Members of the public can be expelled from meetings for engaging in disorderly conduct, as contained under clause 15.20.

Petitions: are not included as Mandatory or Non-Mandatory items of business.

Prohibition on Pre-Meeting Briefings: prohibits briefing sessions being held to brief Councillors on business listed on the agenda for Council and Committee Meetings (Cl 3.32 - 3.33).

Public Forums: public forum provisions are now mandatory, but Council can determine whether to hold public forums before a Council or Committee meeting (Cl 4.1 - 4.2). The rules can be found in the draft Code as 'Mosman Council Practice' under the relevant clauses which allows three minutes for members of the public to address Council. Public Forums must also be live streamed.

Have your say

We want to hear from our local community. We invite you to share your ideas and feedback via one of the following methods:

  • Online: Please complete the survey form below.
  • Email: we also accept feedback via email direct to governance@mosman.nsw.gov.au quoting reference: Draft Code of Meeting Practice
  • Mail: Letter addressed to the General Manager at Mosman Council, PO Box 211, The Spit Junction, Mosman 2088

Feedback closes 11.55pm on Thursday, 20 November 2025.

Each Council in NSW has a Code of Meeting Practice (Code) which sets out the rules of Ordinary Council and Committee Meetings of Council, to ensure these meetings are open, accessible, orderly, effective and efficient.

On August 2025, the Office of the Local Government (OLG) updated the Model Code of Meeting Practice. We have updated our Code of Meeting Practice and we are exhibiting the draft Code for public feedback. We invite you to share your feedback by Thursday, 20 November 2025.

The draft Code of Meeting Practice is available on the documents panel. The new draft Code details the following:

  • Orange – new mandatory provisions which must be adopted by Council;
  • Green – Mosman Council Practice;
  • Red – non-mandatory provisions;
  • Purple – non-mandatory provisions that have already been adopted by Council’s current Code of Meeting Practice; and
  • Blue – new additional non-mandatory provisions that are being proposed by staff in order to make the section clearer.

Overview

Council’s current Code was adopted in May 2025, however, OLG has advised that all councils must have a Code of Meeting Practice which meets the new requirements by 31 December 2025.

The Code will apply to Council meetings and Committee meetings of Council. Key changes in our draft Code include:

Councillor's attendance at Council Meetings by audio-visual link: the option to attend meetings by audio-visual link has been restricted to where Councillors are prevented from attending a meeting in person because of ill-health or other medical reasons or because of unforeseen caring responsibilities (Clause 5.18).

Absences from Council Meetings: where Councillors are unable to attend one or more Council or Committee meetings, the new provisions encourage Councillors to submit an apology for the meeting/s and Council must determine by resolution whether to grant the Councillor a leave of absence for the meeting (Cl 5.6).

Mayoral Minutes: A Mayoral Minute may be put to a Meeting without notice (previously a notice period was required) on any matter or topic that the Mayor determines should be considered at the meeting (Cl 9.7 - 9.10).

Rules of Debate have been simplified and the rules governing the foreshadowing of motions and amendments have been removed. Council will no longer have the option of reducing the duration of speeches to less than 5 minutes. However, Council can continue to have other options to expedite business at Meetings, such as moving that a motion be put where the necessary conditions have been satisfied and to resolve to deal with items by exception.

Dealing with Disorder: Council is required to decide for each Council term, whether to authorise the person presiding at a meeting to exercise a power of expulsion (Cl 15.11 - 15.24). The definition of acts of disorder by Councillors have changed. (Clause 15.11) Members of the public can be expelled from meetings for engaging in disorderly conduct, as contained under clause 15.20.

Petitions: are not included as Mandatory or Non-Mandatory items of business.

Prohibition on Pre-Meeting Briefings: prohibits briefing sessions being held to brief Councillors on business listed on the agenda for Council and Committee Meetings (Cl 3.32 - 3.33).

Public Forums: public forum provisions are now mandatory, but Council can determine whether to hold public forums before a Council or Committee meeting (Cl 4.1 - 4.2). The rules can be found in the draft Code as 'Mosman Council Practice' under the relevant clauses which allows three minutes for members of the public to address Council. Public Forums must also be live streamed.

Have your say

We want to hear from our local community. We invite you to share your ideas and feedback via one of the following methods:

  • Online: Please complete the survey form below.
  • Email: we also accept feedback via email direct to governance@mosman.nsw.gov.au quoting reference: Draft Code of Meeting Practice
  • Mail: Letter addressed to the General Manager at Mosman Council, PO Box 211, The Spit Junction, Mosman 2088

Feedback closes 11.55pm on Thursday, 20 November 2025.

Page last updated: 13 Oct 2025, 12:52 PM