How do Council meetings operate?

Council meetings are the fourth (4th) Tuesday of the month. The dates are available in the table below.

All 15 Councillors attend and vote at Council meetings.  The Mayor (or in the Mayor’s absence, the Deputy Mayor) chairs the meetings. Mayoral Minutes and a range of other matters (including reports from the General Manager and each of the four Directors and Motions from the Councillors) are dealt with here.

Meetings follow an agenda, but in some circumstances Council may change the order of business.

Council staff attend the meetings to assist and provide advice to the Councillors, but they do not take part in the decisions. Staff reports include a recommendation that the Council  may adopt or change.

Addressing Council at Public Forums

Randwick City Council encourages and supports the participation of residents and the community in its activities. Residents (or their representatives) are able to address Council at Public Forums, which are held prior to Council meetings and commence at 6.45pm. Only one speaker in favour and one speaker against each recommendation are able to be accommodated due to time constraints.

• Applications to speak at the public forum must be received by 2pm, on the day on which the public forum is to be held and must identify the item of business on the agenda of the council meeting being held on the same day, that the person wishes to speak on, and whether they wish to speak ‘for’ or ‘against’ the item. Any person wishing to address the Council meeting must register their intention to do so with Council's Administrative Staff on 1300 722 542 or by email to submission@randwick.nsw.gov.au
• A person may apply to speak on no more than three items of business on the agenda of the council meeting.
• Any person representing (or speaking on behalf of) another person must indicate the name of the person they are representing and in what capacity they are representing the person (e.g. Legal representative, town planner, relative etc). The name of the speaker and the person they are representing will be included in the speakers list and/or minutes in order to facilitate disclosures referred to in clause 4.23.
• No more than one speaker is to be permitted to speak ‘for’ and one speaker ‘against’ each item of business on the agenda for the council meeting.
• Approved speakers at the public forum are to register with the council any written, visual or audio material to be presented in support of their address to the council at the public forum no later than 2pm on the day of the public forum. Presentations in powerpoint or pdf formats should be a maximum of 25Mb and must be emailed to submission@randwick.nsw.gov.au no later than 2pm on the day of the meeting.
• Each speaker will be allowed four minutes to address the council.
• A councillor (including the chairperson) may, through the chairperson, ask questions of a speaker following their address at a public forum. Questions put to a speaker must be direct, succinct and without argument. Speakers are under no obligation to answer a question(s) from councillors. Answers by the speaker, to each question, are to be limited to two minutes.
• Speakers at public forums cannot ask questions of the council, councillors or council staff.
• When addressing the council, speakers at public forums must comply with this code and all other relevant council codes, policies and procedures. Speakers must refrain from engaging in disorderly conduct, publicly alleging breaches of the council’s code of conduct or making other potentially defamatory statements.
• Speakers must attend public forums in person and are not able to address via audio-visual link.
• Public Forums are livestreamed (i.e. are recorded and made publicly available on Council’s website at the same time as the Public Forum is taking place).

Disclosure of interests

Councillors are required, by law, to disclose any conflict or pecuniary interest they and their relatives or associates may have in relation to a matter before council or a  council committee. When a pecuniary disclosure is made, the Councillor cannot take part in debate or vote on the matter.

How is each report dealt with?

Council makes a decision on each of the items (reports) that are listed on their agendas. The chairperson will, generally, call each item in the order of the agenda and each matter is debated and voted on.

How are matters debated and determined at Council meetings?

During debate about each report, any Councillor may propose a motion to council recommending a particular decision. A seconder to the motion is required for the motion to be debated.

Amendments can then be proposed to the motion; the amendment is voted on, and if passed it becomes the motion (replacing the original one). After each amendment is dealt with, further amendments can be proposed. Only one motion and one amendment can be before Council for consideration at any one time. Once no more amendments are proposed Councillors vote on the motion to reach a decision, which is called the "resolution".

Motions, amendments and resolutions are all documented in the Minutes of council and committee meetings.

Minutes for meetings are available on council’s website on Tuesdays in the week following meetings. Minutes are considered to be ‘draft’ until they have been confirmed at the next meeting of the council or the relevant committee.

Can a decision change once Council has made a resolution?

If a Councillor disagrees with a resolution of council, they can submit a rescission motion, which must be countersigned by two other Councillors. This is then submitted to the next meeting of council and the matter is reconsidered.

Councillors Committee Membership

Please click on the following link for a list of Councillors who serve as Randwick's representatives on Special/Advisory and outside Committees.

Councillors Committee Membership Oct 2025 to Sept 2026

2025 Council Meeting Dates