Minutes of Policy and Legislation Committee

Policy and Legislation Committee 2 27 April 2022

MINUTES

MINUTES OF the Policy and Legislation Committee HELD IN the Committee Room, Administration Building, Southern Drive, Busselton, ON 27 April 2022 AT 10.30am.

1. Declaration of Opening and Announcement of Visitors

The Presiding Member opened the meeting at 10:35am.

2. Attendance

Presiding Member:

Members:

Cr Kate Cox (Deputy Presiding Member)

Cr Phill Cronin

Cr Jodie Richards

Cr Paul Carter (Deputy Member)

Officers:

Mr Tony Nottle, Director, Finance and Corporate Services

Ms Sarah Pierson, Manager Governance and Corporate Services

Mrs Emma Heys, Governance Coordinator

Ms Jo Barrett-Lennard, Governance Officer

Apologies:

Cr Ross Paine

Cr Anne Ryan

Cr Grant Henley (Deputy Member)

3. Public Question Time

Nil

4. Disclosure Of Interests

Nil

6. Reports

6.1 REVIEW OF COUNCIL POLICY: RECORDING AND LIVESTREAMING OF COUNCIL MEETINGS

STRATEGIC THEME	LEADERSHIP - A Council that connects with the community and is accountable in its decision making.
STRATEGIC PRIORITY	4.1 Provide opportunities for the community to engage with Council and contribute to decision making.
SUBJECT INDEX	Council Policies
BUSINESS UNIT	Governance
REPORTING OFFICER	Governance Officer - Jo Barrett-Lennard
AUTHORISING OFFICER	Director Finance and Corporate Services - Tony Nottle
NATURE OF DECISION	Executive: Substantial direction setting, including adopting budgets, strategies, plans and policies (excluding local planning policies); funding, donations and sponsorships; reviewing committee recommendations
VOTING REQUIREMENT	Simple Majority
ATTACHMENTS	Attachment a Current Policy: Recording and Livestreaming of Council Meetings ⇩ Attachment b Proposed Policy: Recording and Livestreaming of Council Meetings (clean)⇩ Attachment c Proposed Policy: Recording and Livestreaming of Council Meetings (tracked)⇩ Attachment d Proposed Policy with Committee Amendments ⇩

Committee Recommendation

PL2204/448 Moved Councillor P Cronin, seconded Councillor P Carter

That the Council:

1. Adopt the amended Council Policy inclusive of the Committee Amendments as at Attachment D.

2. Requests the CEO investigate and implement a copyright disclaimer for the City’s website and YouTube channel.

CARRIED 4/0

Reasons: The Committee requested a three month timeframe in paragraph 5.8, due to trends indicating lower engagement with recordings after this time period. The Committee also requested a copyright disclaimer be placed on recordings to deter the misuse of recordings.

OFFICER RECOMMENDATION

That Council adopt the amended Council policy: Recording and Livestreaming of Meetings (the Policy) (Attachment B) to replace the current policy (Attachment A)

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

This report presents an amended Council policy: Recording and Livestreaming of Meetings (the Policy) (Attachment B), revised to amend the timeframe livestream recordings will remain available on the City of Busselton’s YouTube channel (YouTube). Officers recommend it replace the current Council policy (Attachment A).

BACKGROUND

Council policy ‘Audio Recording of Council Meetings’ was adopted on 26 June 2019 (C1906/108), following a request from a member of the public for a copy of a recording of an Ordinary Council Meeting taken under the City’s Standing Orders Local Law 2018 for minute purposes.

The policy was subsequently amended and adopted in its current form by Council at its Ordinary Meeting on 11 November 2020 (C2011/127) to allow for the livestream of meetings when personal attendance was limited due to Covid-19 related restrictions. The livestream of Council Meetings as a regular practice commenced on 23 June 2021.

OFFICER COMMENT

The current policy states that recordings are to be removed as soon practicable after the minutes of that meeting have been confirmed. More recently the recordings have been made available for a longer period of time. The proposed amendment to the Policy is to set a longer timeframe for which these recording will continue to be made available to the public, being six months after the livestream has ended.

Originally the livestream recordings were retained to assist in the production of minutes of the meeting. More recently, officers have left the recording visible on YouTube for a longer period of time. This has resulted in a relatively high level of engagement with the Council Meeting recordings on YouTube after the livestream has ended, with the following statistics provided for reference:

Date	Total Views
8 September 2021	547 Views
22 September 2021	103 Views
13 October 2021	85 Views
27 October 2021	177 Views
10 November 2021	182 Views
24 November 2021	618 Views
8 December 2021	292 Views
25 January 2022	85 Views
9 February 2022	120 Views
23 February 2022	82 Views
9 March 2022	149 Views
23 March 2022	77 Views

During a livestream, the number of views occurring in real time are between two and 20. This indicates the majority of views are occurring after the livestream has ended.

Officers are recommending the continuation of livestreaming and making available the recordings for a period of six months to ensure transparency and access to meetings when in person attendance is not possible.

Statutory Environment

The Local Government Act 1995 and the City’s Standing Orders Local Law 2018 provide for and encourage public attendance and transparency at meetings.

Relevant Plans and Policies

The officer recommendation aligns with Council policy: ‘Meeting, Information Sessions and Decision Making Processes’.

Financial Implications

There are no financial implications associated with the officer recommendation.

Stakeholder Consultation

No external stakeholder consultation was required or undertaken in relation to this matter.

Risk Assessment

An assessment of the potential implications of implementing the officer recommendation has been undertaken using the City’s risk management framework, with risks assessed taking into account any controls already in place. No risks of a medium or greater level have been identified.

Options

As an alternative to the proposed recommendation the Council could:

1. Make additional amendments to the Policy; or

2. Decline to adopt the Policy and retain the current policy.

CONCLUSION

A proposed amended Council policy: ‘Recording and Livestreaming of Council Meetings’ is presented for Councils endorsement.

TIMELINE FOR IMPLEMENTATION OF OFFICER RECOMMENDATION

The Policy will be placed on the City’s website within one week of Council adoption.

Policy and Legislation Committee 15 27 April 2022

10:59am: At this time, Mrs Heys left the meeting.

6.2 WORK HEALTH AND SAFETY POLICY

STRATEGIC THEME	LEADERSHIP - A Council that connects with the community and is accountable in its decision making.
STRATEGIC PRIORITY	4.4 Govern a professional organisation that is healthy, capable and engaged.
SUBJECT INDEX	Work Health Safety
BUSINESS UNIT	Corporate Services
REPORTING OFFICER	Manager Governance and Corporate Services - Sarah Pierson
AUTHORISING OFFICER	Director Finance and Corporate Services - Tony Nottle
NATURE OF DECISION	Executive: Substantial direction setting, including adopting budgets, strategies, plans and policies (excluding local planning policies); funding, donations and sponsorships; reviewing committee recommendations
VOTING REQUIREMENT	Simple Majority
ATTACHMENTS	Attachment a Work Health and Safety policy (revised)⇩ Attachment b Occupational Health and Safety policy (current)⇩ Attachment c Work Health and Safety policy (tracked)⇩

Committee Recommendation

PL2204/449 Moved Councillor P Carter, seconded Councillor J Richards

That the Council adopts the Work Health & Safety Policy as per Attachment A to replace the current Occupational Safety and Health Policy (Attachment B).

CARRIED 4/0

Officer Recommendation

That the Council adopts the Work Health & Safety Policy as per Attachment A to replace the current Occupational Safety and Health Policy (Attachment B).

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

This report presents a revised Work Health and Safety policy (Attachment A) (the Policy) for Council approval, with the current Occupational Health and Safety policy amended to reflect the new Work Health and Safety Act 2020 (the Act) having come into operation.

BACKGROUND

A policy in relation to Occupational Safety and Health was originally adopted in May 2006, with the aim of demonstrating Council’s commitment to ensuring a safe and healthy work environment. Since then the current policy has been reviewed a number of times, most recently in 2018, where it was moved into the City’s new policy template.

The Act was given royal assent on 10 November 2020 and came into effect along with the accompanying regulations on 31 March 2022. The Act redefines ‘health’ to mean physical and psychological health and sets out obligations of Persons Conducting a Business or Undertaking (PCBUs) as well as obligations of ‘Officers’ of PCBUs – defined broadly as a person who makes, or participates in making, decisions that affect the whole, or substantial part of, the business or undertaking.

Duties of an Officer are outlined in the Act, are positive in nature and cannot be delegated to someone else. The PCBU and Officers owe these duties to ‘Workers’ - defined as a person carrying out work in any capacity for a PCBU including work as an employee, a contractor or subcontractor and as a volunteer.

PCBU’s can share obligations under the Act based on the capacity of each PCBU to exercise influence and control and the Act sets out a requirement for PCBU’s to consult and cooperate.

OFFICER COMMENT

While the health and safety of staff is the responsibility of the CEO (and other ‘Officers’), Council are responsible for the provision of adequate resources to meet health and safety objectives and targets. The purpose of the Policy is to demonstrate the Council’s commitment to ensuring a healthy and safe environment for its workers, and outlines the strategic responsibilities of the CEO in this regard.

Only minor amendments are proposed to the Policy to reflect the onus on the broader definition of health through the phrase health and safety as opposed to safety and health, along with references to the Act being updated from the Occupational Safety and Health Act 1984. The Policy title has also been amended to reflect the new Act.

Statutory Environment

In accordance with Section 2.7(2)(b) of the Local Government Act 1995 it is the role of the Council to determine the local government’s policies. The Council does this on the recommendation of a Committee it has established in accordance with Section 5.8 of that Act.

Relevant Plans and Policies

The Policy aligns to the City’s Policy Framework.