Council seeking community’s views on Public Transparency Policy

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02/06/2023

The City of Greater Geelong Council is seeking feedback on its draft Public Transparency Policy.

The Public Transparency Policy describes the way in which Council information is made publicly available and gives effect to the public transparency principles prescribed in the Local Government Act 2020.

In 2020 Council adopted the first ever Public Transparency Policy with the view of reviewing this in 2022.

The decision-making processes undertaken by the Council and the City are made transparent by:

conducting Council business in an open and transparent forum (unless otherwise provided in accordance with the provisions in the Act and Governance Rules)
informing the community via community engagement channels in accordance with the Community Engagement Principles and the Community Engagement Policy
ensuring decisions are made fairly and on merit

City of Greater Geelong Mayor Cr Peter Murrihy;

While individuals will not always agree with Council or City decisions high levels of transparency allowed them to understand the reasoning in the decision-making process.

Transparent decision making helps to promote a positive and productive relationship between the Council and the City and the community.

It also means the community can have a greater sense of ownership and connection to decisions that have been made by the Council and the City.

Information will not be publicly available if its release would be contrary to the public interest or not in compliance with the Privacy and Data Protection Act 2014.

Councillor Belinda Moloney;

Transparent decision making helped to increase public confidence.

Openness accountability integrity and honesty are essential to build trust amongst our community and enables fully informed engagement in the democratic process.

More so than at any other level of government local councils provide the opportunity for citizens to engage with decision making directly affecting them and their communities.

I encourage the community to have their say on this draft policy.

The Draft Public Transparency Policy will be open for community consultation from July 27 for a period of three weeks via the City’s Have Your Say Page.

Published On

02/06/2023