How Council Meetings Work

Council’s Ordinary Meetings of Council are held on the fourth Tuesday of every month.  They are conducted in the Council Chamber, at the Civic Centre, commencing at 6 pm.

Council meetings are a formal process.  They are open to the public for observation only, unless invited to speak by the Chairperson, usually the Mayor.

All council decisions are made at council meetings or through them. They are either made at the meeting or under delegated authority to others.

Katherine Town Council also holds Special Meetings of Council – convened for a particular purpose by the Mayor or majority of the Councillors, or by resolution at a council meeting.

Meeting Procedure

Council’s decision-making must be as open and transparent as possible. Council meetings are open to the public, unless the topic is about a matter that may need to be kept confidential. Example of confidential matters, include staff, commercial, security or legal matters. Confidential meetings are closed to the public.

Katherine Town Councillors make decisions by a majority (more than half of those present) vote at each meeting. A quorum (more than half) of the Councillors must be present for a vote to pass.  Each Councillor, including the Mayor and Deputy Mayor has one vote on decisions made at a Council meeting or committee meeting.

Where there is an equal number of votes for and against a motion, the Mayor is required to cast a second ‘casting vote’ to break the tie.

All councillors present can vote on every motion unless they have a conflict of interest.

Council meetings are conducted under Council's Governance rules in accordance with the Local Government Act 2019.

 

Chairperson

The Mayor of the Day chairs Council meetings. If the Mayor cannot attend, the Deputy Mayor will act as Chairperson for that meeting.

 

The Agenda

The agenda is a list items that council intends to consider at the meeting. It usually only contains council officer reports and recommendations on these matters. Councillors use these reports as a source of information and advice to assist their decision making.

Agendas will be published on Katherine Town Council’s website, and limited copies are available at each council meeting for public members.

Procedural Matters

Each Council meeting agenda is broken up into a variety of sections:

  • Recording Attendance at Meetings
  • Apologies
  • Leave of Absence
  • Declarations of Conflicts of Interest
  • Confirmation of Minutes
  • The Order of Business
  • Petitions
  • Notice of Motion
  • Mayoral Business
  • Councillor Reports
  • Memorials
  • General Business
  • Confidential Items (as required).

Councillor Reports

Councillors report back to Council details of their engagements, and meetings that the individual Councillor attended to for that month.

Officer Reports

This forms the main part of the Council meeting agenda. This is a chance for Councillors to discuss reports submitted by Council Officers and make decisions.

Public Question Time

All residents and ratepayers have the right to ask questions and raise issues with Council.

However, Council meetings are an opportunity to observe the Council at work, they are not the place for members of the public to address the Councillors. People who have been invited to make a submission may speak when directed, but there should be no debate between the public and Councillors.

If you wish to ask a question about an item on the council agenda, at a Council meeting, you must submit questions online by 12 noon or in person by 4.30 pm on the night of the Council meeting. You will be given the opportunity to ask your question during the Council meeting, but it must relate to a specific agenda item.

If you are not in attendance at the meeting, you may also submit a question, however the Mayor will determine whether or not to read and respond to your question.

For questions not responded to at the meeting, a response will be provided at a later date.

You are not permitted to speak at Council meetings unless you are invited to do so.