60Governance Rules

60 Governance Rules (1) A Council must develop, adopt and keep in force Governance Rules for or with respect to the following— S. 60(1)(a) amended by No. 13/2022 s. 40(a). (a) the conduct of Council meetings (including holding Council meetings by electronic means of communication); S. 60(1)(b) amended by No. 13/2022 s. 40(b). (b) the conduct of meetings of delegated committees (including holding meetings of delegated committees by electronic means of communication); S. 60(1)(ba) inserted by No. 13/2022 s. 40(c). (ba) requesting and approval of attendance at Council meetings and meetings of delegated committees by electronic means of communication; (c) the form and availability of meeting records; (d) the election of the Mayor and the Deputy Mayor; (da) the appointment of an Acting Mayor; (e) an election period policy in accordance with section 69; (f) the procedures for the disclosure of a conflict of interest by a Councillor or a member of a delegated committee under section 130; (g) the procedure for the disclosure of a conflict of interest by a Councillor under section 131; (h) the disclosure of a conflict of interest by a member of Council staff when providing information in respect of a matter within the meaning of section 126(1); (i) any other matters prescribed by the regulations. (2) The Governance Rules must provide for a Council to— (a) consider and make decisions on any matter being considered by the Council fairly and on the merits; and (b) institute decision making processes to ensure that any person whose rights will be directly affected by a decision of the Council is entitled to communicate their views and have their interests considered. (3) A Council may amend its Governance Rules. (4) Subject to subsection (5), a Council must ensure that a process of community engagement is followed in developing or amending its Governance Rules. (5) Subsection (4) does not apply if the Council is developing and adopting or amending a Governance Rule that only adopts a good practice guideline issued by the Minister under section 87. (6) A Council must comply with its Governance Rules. (7) A Council must adopt the first Governance Rules under this section on or before 1 September 2020. (8) Until a Council adopts Governance Rules under this section, the Local Law Meeting Procedures made by the Council under the **Local** **Government Act 1989** apply as if the Local Law Meeting Procedures had been adopted as Governance Rules under this section.