The City of Whittlesea’s first Council meeting for 2020 on Tuesday 4 February at 6.30pm will be the first time the proceedings are live streamed.
Live streaming was first proposed in June 2017 by the now Mayor Cr Emilia Lisa Sterjova, who is thrilled that she’ll be chairing the City’s first meeting to be live streamed.
“I’m delighted that finally our community will be able to choose to watch Council meetings online if they are unable to attend,” she said.
“Live streaming will allow better engagement with residents who find it difficult to attend meetings such as those who live far away or those with a disability which prevents them attending.
“I believe live streaming will also better engage young people who would rather connect with Council online as well as our those who work and struggle to make our meeting times.”
Live streamed meetings have become commonplace in federal and state governments and other councils across Australia.
“It also brings us into line with a recommendation by the Victorian Ombudsman on local government transparency where live streaming of Council meetings was listed as one measure that contributes towards a Council being transparent with its community,” Cr Sterjova said.
Cameras won’t film members of the public asking a question or sitting in the public gallery, in case this discourages people from participating in Council meetings. Only the audio of public questions will be included in the webcast.
It will be a useful tool to allow people to watch meetings live or at a later time, with a video of each meeting to remain on Council’s website for at least a year.
The videos of our meetings will be available on Council’s YouTube channel.
