The Office of Local Government (OLG) has recently released a new Model Code of Meeting Practice for Local Councils in NSW (the Model Code).
The Model Code consists of mandatory provisions (in black text), non-mandatory provisions (in red text) and provisions relating to joint organisations (in blue text). Section 360 of the Local Government Act 1993 requires councils to adopt a code of meeting practice that incorporates the mandatory provisions of the OLG’s Model Code. Council’s code may incorporate the non-mandatory provisions of the Model Code as well as provisions added by Council that must be consistent with the model.
Before adopting its new code, Council must exhibit a Draft Code of Meeting Practice for 28 days and allow 42 days for public submissions.
Council resolved to exhibit a draft code at its meeting on 21 October 2025. The Council report is available here. The draft code uses text boxes to indicate the provisions that are proposed to be added by Council. The changes to the Model Code are shown in the draft code with yellow highlighting.
