Members of our community may apply to address Council at a public forum, allowing them to voice their opinion on a matter at Council. Public Forums are held prior to the commencement of Committee and Council meetings if applications are received for those dates. Public Forum generally begins at 5.30pm in the Council Chambers unless indicated otherwise in the Council meeting schedule.
The address is to be no longer than four minutes, and Councillors may question the speaker following completion of the address with speaker slots limited to 10 minutes in total per speaker. You may address Council once per matter.
When to apply to speak
You will need to know what Council meeting you would like to attend. You should consider whether an item in which you are interested is on the Council meeting agenda.
If you wish to speak about an item on the agenda for a Committee or Council meeting, applications must be received by midday on the day of the meeting which you wish to address Council at a public forum (i.e. 12pm on Monday of a meeting).
If you wish to speak about a matter that is not on the agenda for a Committee or Council meeting, applications must be received three days prior to the day of the meeting which you wish to address Council at a public forum (i.e. close of business on Thursday before a meeting on Monday).
Approval to speak
The Chief Executive Officer grants requests to address Council at a public forum. The Council Business Support team will contact you after 12pm on the day of the meeting which you wish to address Council to advise of the outcome of your request and provide further information. Before applying please read the Code of Meeting Practice(PDF, 782KB) to ensure you meet the criteria.
Your application may not be processed if any information is missing. Should you require any further information please contact Customer Service Centre on 02 4921 0333, and ask to speak to the Council Business Support team.
Public forum addresses are to be four minutes in length. There is a maximum of four speakers per public forum unless otherwise approved in accordance with the Code of Meeting Practice. Our Guidelines for speaking effectively at public forums(PDF, 141KB) will help you to make the most impact with your presentation or you can watch this video to see a good example: