What is a deputation?
A deputation is a way of bringing an issue to the notice of all Elected Members at a Council meeting. This can be a particular matter of concern to either an individual or a group of people. Please Note that Deputees cannot participate in the debate or ask any questions of Council.
Each individual deputation is provided 5 minutes to address the Council. The Council allows groups of people to jointly make a deputation, by making a joint application with 2 speakers, you will be sharing the allocated time.
Separate deputations can be made on the same topic but require individual deputation requests.
What can I speak about?
The topic spoken on must be relevant to matters for which the Council or Committee has responsibility. You are required to provide sufficient information regarding the issue and indicate the preferred meeting at which you would like to be heard in your deputation request.
If you are making a deputation on behalf of a group or organisation, you may be asked to provide information on your group/organisation and provide proof that you are authorised to represent them.
How can I request to make a Deputation?
If you or a group of people want to make a deputation, you must deliver to the Civic Centre, a written request to the Council or by completing all the details on the Deputation Request form at least 24 hours before the meeting at which you wish to speak. Any request for a deputation received after this time will be treated as a request to appear at a subsequent meeting.
Deputation Request
What happens with my request?
Once your deputation request is received by the Chief Executive Officer, it will then be provided to the Mayor (or the Presiding Member of the Committee if the deputation request relates to a Council Committee). The Mayor or Presiding Member will then confer with the Chief Executive Officer.
The Mayor or Presiding Member will advise the CEO whether or not the deputation is allowed. Council will then contact you to advise the outcome of your deputation request, and if you are permitted to speak will confirm the date and time of the relevant meeting.
In considering requests for deputations the Presiding Member and CEO will consider the criteria included in the Local Government (Procedures at Meetings) Regulations 2013 and the Council’s Code of Practice – Procedures at Meetings.
The Council allows a maximum of 5 deputations at each council/committee meeting. If more than 5 requests are received by the deadline, the Mayor and CEO may select 5 deputations to be heard at the meeting, considering the criteria in the Code of Practice – Procedures at Meetings.
If consent for a deputation is refused by the Mayor or Presiding Member, it must be reported at the next Council or Committee meeting. The Council or Committee does have the power to allow you to make a deputation even if your request was initially refused permission.
Making the deputation
Once you have received confirmation that your request has been granted, you are ready to attend a Council or Committee meeting.
Your deputation will commence approximately five to ten minutes following the opening of the meeting at 7.00pm (for Council Meetings, check the start time for each individual Committee Meetings). The exact time will depend on the Agenda and any other Deputations listed.
The Mayor or Presiding Member will invite you to come forward and make your deputation on the topic or issues which you have nominated.
You will be asked to state your name and address which will be recorded in the minutes of the meeting. You will have five minutes in total to present your deputation.
After you have made your deputation, Elected Members will be invited to ask you questions.
Rules
You are expected to conduct yourself in a professional manner at the level of formality appropriate to the meeting. You are to refrain from making defamatory or derogatory comments and any comments that are criticism of Council members or Council staff must not be made during the deputation.
Council and Committee meetings are open to the public and there are no privileges protecting you in relation to defamation. Any matters of concern regarding Council Members and Council staff can be raised formally in writing with the Chief Executive Officer or as per the Complaints Handling procedures.
Members of the public are welcome to attend all Council and Committee meetings but cannot participate in the debate at these meetings.
Deputations undertaken in accordance with the Code of Practice-Procedures at Meetings and the Local Government (Procedures at Meetings) Regulations 2013.
Members of the public have the opportunity to raise concerns about issues in their area at Council and Committee meetings. This can be by way of submitting a petition.
A petition is a formal document to Council containing the names, addresses and signatures of residents. Petitions draw the attention of Council to a particular matter or ask the Council to consider making a particular decision.
If you or a group of people would like to raise an issue with the Council you can contact your Elected Members or the Chief Executive Officer:
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by letter
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by telephone
- in person
Step 1 - How to submit a Petition
The Local Government (Procedures at meetings) Regulations 2013 requires a petition to:
- be legibly written, typed or printed
- clearly set out the request or submission of the petitioners on each page
- include the name and address (postal including suburb) of each person who signed or endorsed the petition
- be addressed to City of Burnside and delivered to the Council Office, 401 Greenhill Road, Tusmore SA 5065
In addition, the Council’s Code of Practice – Procedures at Meetings requires a petition to:
- be the original of each page of the document
- contain the name and contact details of the head petitioner on each page of the petition
- relate to a matter within the jurisdiction of the council
- not contain material that is offensive or defamatory
A petition is a public document. By signing it, it is agreed that the names, addresses and signatures on the petition will be made available in the public realm, including publishing in a Council/Committee meeting agenda on the Council website. The City of Burnside will record these details for the purpose of the petition only.
Please note:
- Electronic petitions must meet the requirements for a petition listed above. It should be noted that petitions created through change.org or similar websites may not have a function to include a street address and therefore do not comply with the petition requirements as set out in the regulations.
- Pages or names that don’t meet the criteria contained in the regulations and code of practice cannot be included as part of the petition.
- Petitions that do not meet the criteria contained in the regulations and code of practice will be treated as joint letters.
- At least 10 signatures are required for a petition to be considered by the Council as a petition.
- Under the Local Government Bylaws, it is not legal to collect signatures on Local Government Land without permission. If you are collecting signatures on private land, e.g. shopping centre, you will need the permission of the centre owner or manager.
Download our Petition to Council Template(PDF, 183KB) to get started.
Step 2 - What happens after I submit my Petition
- The Head Petitioner will be contacted to confirm receipt of the petition.
- Petitions received meeting the criteria outlined in the regulations and Code of Practice will be placed on the agenda for the next ordinary Council meeting, or relevant Council Committee meeting.
- Petitioners are welcome to attend the meeting, however can not participate in the debate at the meeting. If the head petitioner wishes to speak to the petition a request for a deputation needs to be made separately.
- A report including one page of the petition is presented to Council at the meeting for consideration.
- The outcome of the Council's deliberation will be included in the minutes of that meeting and the Head Petitioner advised.
Step 3 - After your petition is received by Council/Committee
- The outcome of the Council’s consideration of the petition will be communicated formally to the Head Petitioner.
At each meeting of the Council, 15 minutes are allocated for the community to attend the Council Meeting and ask the Council one question for one minute.
Participants in Public Question Time (PQT) are asked to complete the form provided and submit it to staff prior to the start of the Council meeting for the Presiding Member to call you and ask your question at the appropriate time. You can also submit the form electronically by completing the registration form below by 5 pm on the day of the Council Meeting.
Public Question Time Registration
Participants need to attend the Council meeting to ask their question. Any questions submitted where the participant is not in attendance at the meeting will be answered directly.
The Presiding Member will call for participants in PQT from the forms submitted by the Gallery. If there are more requests to participate in PQT than time available, the Presiding Member may select participants who have not participated in PQT previously to ask their question and then call on previous participants.
Each member of the public can ask one (1) question and have a maximum of one (1) minute to ask their question during PQT.
Prior to asking their question, members of the public will be asked to state their name and the suburb they reside and ask their question in a manner befitting of a formal Council Meeting.
PQT questions are not restricted to those regarding agenda items, but they must be relevant to the Council or be within the jurisdiction of the City of Burnside.
The Presiding Member may refuse to respond to a question that:
- is unlawful in any way;
- is inappropriate, insulting, vague, improper or defamatory;
- questions the competency of Council staff or Council Members;
- relates to the personal affairs or actions of Council staff or Council Members;
- relates to confidential matters, legal advice or actual or possible legal proceedings;
- is in the reasonable opinion of the Presiding Member, proffered to advance a particular point of view rather than to make a genuine inquiry;
- is irrelevant to Council;
- not related to Council activities; or
- is a question that has been substantially asked and answered at a previous Council meeting.
Questions which have been taken on notice will be answered directly to the Member of the Public who asked the question within 7 days of the meeting. The answers to questions taken on notice will not be read out during PQT.
Once the allocated time has ended the Presiding Member will declare that public question time has ended.
No debate is permitted on either the question or the answer by the Public or Council Members. Supplementary questions based on the answer are not permitted.
Members of the public participating in PQT do not have any protection from defamation in relation to statements made.