Ipswich meeting rules rewritten to change quorum, debate and public access

Ipswich City Council’s revised Meeting Procedures Policy will change how councillors attend, debate and close meetings to the public after the Finance and Governance Committee adopted it with amendments on 11 August.

The policy is to go to the Council ordinary meeting on 27 August 2026 for the next step in its adoption. The changes follow Queensland Parliament’s passage of the Local Government (Empowering Councils) and Other Legislation Amendment Act 2026 on 5 March.

Under the amended wording, a councillor may attend a council or committee meeting in person or by teleconference. Quorum is defined as “a majority of its normal number of councillors”.

The amendments also specify when a motion or amendment can be put to a vote. That includes cases where at least one councillor has spoken in favour and no councillor intends to speak against it, or where at least two councillors have spoken on each side.

The mover of a motion will have the final right of reply. Other changes correct cross-references, remove several provisions and change the notice period wording from “five (5) full business day” to “at least five (5) full business days”.

The public-exclusion rule is also rewritten. If a procedural motion to close a meeting to the public is passed, all members of the public must leave and cannot re-enter the meeting room until a procedural motion to reopen the meeting is passed.

The committee also repealed the Meeting Conduct Policy. It repealed the Investigation Policy subject to the policy continuing to apply to existing matters preserved by section 367 of the Local Government Act 2009 until a final determination is made.

Councillor Paul Tully moved the recommendations, with Mayor Teresa Harding seconding them. The committee meeting commenced at 10.19am and closed at 11.11am.