Public Participation
Meeting and Public Statement Time Trial
Council is trialling that Agenda Briefing Forums will no longer be held and that Public Statement Time will be introduced at Ordinary Council Meetings from October 2026 to March 2027.
At the conclusion of the trial period, Council will review the effectiveness of the changes before determining whether the arrangement should continue.
Members of the public may participate in Council meetings through the following avenues:
Public Question Time
Public Question Time provides an opportunity for members of the community to ask questions of Council regarding items on the Council meeting agenda or on matters related to the good government of persons in the district.
Section 5.24 of the Local Government Act (1995), and the Local Government (Administration) Regulations 1996, provide requirements of public question time.
You can register your intent to ask a question at a Council meeting by:
The pdf form may be submitted to the City via email at belmont@belmont.wa.gov.au or you can bring the form with you to the meeting.
Questions will generally be dealt with in the order of registration.
Questions may be answered at the meeting. If a response cannot be provided at the meeting, the question may be ‘taken on notice’. If a question is ‘taken on notice’, you will receive a written response and the response will be included in the agenda of the next meeting.
The rules of Public Question Time are included on the form and listed below:
- The person asking the question is required to give their name and suburb prior to asking the question.
- Questions are to be directed to the Presiding Member who has the discretion to accept or reject a question, and the right to nominate an Elected Member or Officer to answer
- In order to provide an opportunity for all members of the public wishing to participate in question time, questions are to be as concise as possible with any preamble to questions kept to a minimum. As per Council’s Standing Orders, debating of issues between the Gallery, Elected Members or Officers is not permitted.
- Where the Presiding Member rules that a member of the public is making a statement during public question time, then no answer is required to be given or recorded in response.
- Questions which: are considered inappropriate, offensive or otherwise not in good faith, duplicates or variations of earlier question;, relate to the personal affairs or actions of Council members or Officers, confidential matters, legal advice, legal proceedings or other legal processes; or would otherwise impose an unreasonable resource impost on the City; will be refused by the Presiding Member as out of order and will not be recorded in the minutes.
- When a member of the public submits a question and then does not attend the meeting in person, that question will be treated as an item of correspondence and will be answered in the normal course of business. The question and response will not be recorded in the minutes.
- The following will be ruled out of order and any question asked will not be recorded in the minutes: Questions from members of the public that do not comply with the Rules of Public Question Time; members of the public not abiding by a ruling from the Presiding Member, behaving in a manner which is disrespectful of the Presiding Member or Council, or refusing to abide by any direction from the Presiding Member.
- Answers to questions are provided in good faith, however unless reasonable prior written notice of the question has been given, answers should not be relied upon as being conclusive of the matter.
- Where a question (compliant to these rules) is raised and is unable to be answered at the meeting, the question shall be taken on notice with the response being recorded in the Agenda of the next appropriate Council Meeting. A copy of the response will also be supplied to the questioner.
- Public Question Time is set for a period of 30 minutes, (except for Special Council Meetings for which a 15-minute period is set), and will terminate earlier should no further questions be forthcoming.
- To enable all members of the gallery a fair and equitable opportunity to participate in Public Question Time, each person asking a question shall be provided a maximum two-minute time limit in the first instance, in which to ask a maximum of two questions (whether these are submitted in writing or from the floor). A question may include a request for the tabling of documents where these are relevant to an issue before Council.
- Questions to be asked at the meeting will be registered in order of receipt, and the priority for asking questions shall be firstly questions on which written notice has been given prior to the meeting (that is, prior to 12 noon on the day immediately preceding the meeting) and secondly, questions from the floor. The Presiding Member shall call upon members of the gallery who have not already submitted questions in writing or earlier registered their interest to ask a question, to do so and the priority of asking questions shall be in accordance with that register.
- Should there be time remaining in the initial period for Public Question Time after all members of the public have posed their initial allotment of two questions, the Presiding Member can then allow members of the public to sequentially (in accordance with the register) ask a further two questions (with a two-minute time limit per question) until the initial period for Public Question Time has expired.
- Any extension to the initial period for Public Question Time is to be limited to a period that will allow sufficient time for any remaining members of the gallery to ask their initial allotment of two questions.
Public Statement Time
Public Statement Time provides an opportunity for members of the community to make a statement relating to the business of the local government.
Public Statement Time is a trial operating from October 2026 until March 2027 and will generally occur following Public Question Time at Ordinary Council Meetings.
You may register your interest to make a statement in writing prior to the meeting.
The public are invited to register their interest by:
The pdf form may be submitted to the City via email at
belmont@belmont.wa.gov.au or you can bring the form with you to the meeting.
Statements will generally be dealt with in the order of registration.
The rules of Public Statement Time are included on the form and listed below:
- An initial period of 30 minutes is provided for Public Statement Time.
- A simple majority is required to extend Public Statement Time beyond the initial 30 minute period with a maximum total duration of 45 minutes at each meeting.
- Statements must not exceed five minutes.
- Persons wishing to make a Statement are encouraged to register in writing with the City before 12 noon, the day immediately preceding the meeting.
- Priority will be given to persons who have registered in advance and in writing, with Statements generally dealt with in order of registration.
- Any remaining available time may, at the discretion of the Presiding Member, be allocated to persons who have not registered in advance.
- Before making a Statement, the speaker must state their name and suburb.
- Statements must relate to the business of the local government.
- Priority will be given to Statements relating to items on the agenda, as indicated on the written registration.
- Only one Statement may be made per person per meeting, and by individuals who are present at the meeting.
- Statements are to be received without debate or discussion. Interaction between Elected Members and the speaker is permitted with the permission of the Presiding Member.
- Minutes will include the name and suburb of the speaker, the relevant agenda item(s) (if any) their Statement relates to and where the Statement does not relate to an agenda item, the subject matter.
- The Presiding Member has authority to rule a Statement, or any part of a Statement out of order.
- During Public Statement Time, Elected Members may draw attention to a breach of the Standing Orders Local Law 2017.
- Where a procedural matter concerning Public Statement Time is not addressed by these Rules, the Standing Orders Local Law 2017, the Local Government Act 1995 (WA) or Regulations, the Presiding Member will determine the procedure to be followed.
Petitions
Petitions inform Council of the views of a section of the community and serve as one way of placing community concerns before Council. Any elector or group of electors may petition the Council to take action.
The subject of a petition must be a matter on which the City has the power to act. Care must be taken in the wording of petitions as the City requires certain information and content to be included to be a valid petition.
Read the Fact Sheet on Petitions here.
Contact Us
If you require assistance regarding Public Question Time, Public Statement Time, petitions or participation in a Council meeting, please contact the City's Governance team by calling (08) 9477 7222 or by emailing belmont@belmont.wa.gov.au.