Request to speak at a Council Meeting

Get involved in Council Meetings by asking a public question or making a public comment.

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To participate at a Council meeting please complete the 'Request to Speak form' at the bottom of this webpage.

Please register to speak by 4 pm on the day of the meeting. If you are unable to register online, manual registration forms will be available upon entry to the Town Hall for in person submissions.

Attending in person

Council meetings are held at the St Kilda Town Hall, 99a Carlisle Street, St Kilda. Doors open at 6 pm for the meeting to commence at 6.30 pm. (entry via the portico entrance to the Town Hall).

Participating Virtually

Registrations to speak virtually close at 4 pm on the day of the meeting, virtual registrations received after 4 pm, will not be accepted. Virtual meeting access will be hosted via Microsoft Teams and can be joined via internet connection on any device or dialled into via phone. You will be required to download the Teams app if you are joining the meeting on a smartphone.
(For privacy reasons, only audio will be heard, the video will not be displayed at any time during the meeting).

Watching Council Meetings from home

Council meetings continue to be live-streamed to allow our community to watch the meeting online. Members of the public can access the live-stream via our live stream website or Facebook page.

Please note, each speaker can speak for three minutes, the chair reserves the right to limit the speaking time to two minutes for a particular item if there are five or more speakers, please bear this in mind when preparing your submission.

Meeting protocols

- Questions submitted to Council must be:
  - in writing, stating the name and address of the person submitting the question and generally be in a form approved or permitted by Council
  - submitted to Council prior to 4 pm on the day of the Council meeting.
- Members of the public can ask questions on general matters other than those relating to a topic that is on the agenda. Questions may be asked of Council and may not be directed to individual Councillors.
- Each question will be recorded in the minutes. Responses to questions provided at the meeting will be recorded in the minutes. Responses to questions taken on notice will be made publicly available on the Council website.
- Questions and the responses at Ordinary Meetings will be streamed live and recorded to be made available online.
- A question may be disallowed by the Chair if the Chair determines that it:
  - relates to a matter outside the duties, functions and powers of Council
  - is defamatory, indecent, abusive, offensive, irrelevant, trivial or objectionable in language or substance
  - deals with a subject matter already answered
  - is aimed at embarrassing a Councillor or a member of Council staff
  - relates to a matter which will be, or is likely to be, considered in a closed meeting
  - relates to any matter which Council considers would prejudice Council or any person.
- Members of the public are asked to focus on agenda items under consideration.
- Speaker names will be recorded in the minutes.
- Questions, comments and the responses at Ordinary Meetings will be streamed live and recorded to be made available online.

Request to speak form

Submit your request

Having trouble?

Should you have any difficulty when submitting our request to speak form, please contact us:

Online: My Port Phillip
Phone: 03 8563 7490