KINGSTON Council is considering changes to its current meeting procedures on the advice of the state government-appointed municipal monitors.
Kingston Council was under monitor observation from 25 August 2025 to 14 August 2026, at a cost of more than $1000 a day to ratepayers. The monitors’ report into Kingston Council has not yet been publicly released.
While at Kingston Council, the monitors offered advice on council meeting rules and procedures. Council is now consulting residents on some of those proposed changes.
Among the changes proposed by the monitors was a ban on “en-bloc” voting. This would prohibit multiple items on a council agenda from being grouped together, ensuring each item is considered separately. Kingston Council’s consultation on the proposal also read that the change was a recommendation of Operation Sandon, the anti-corruption investigation into Casey Council.
Another change to council meeting procedure recommended by the monitors was to prohibit the mover of a council agenda item from speaking against a motion. Kingston Council’s proposed change would stipulate that “a councillor moving a motion could only speak against it to encourage debate, preventing the practice of moving a motion and then arguing against it.”
Kingston Council is also considering numerous other changes to its council meeting governance rules. Those changes include to “prohibit public question time during a general election period” and declare that “notices of motion would not be permitted during a general election period.” The proposed changes would also mandate that “motions relating to a strategy, protocol, guideline or convention would require an officer report before a decision is made.”
Consultation on the proposed changes closes on Monday, 26 October. To read the full changes and make a submission visit yourkingstonyoursay.com.au/governance-rules-2026
First published in the Chelsea Mordialloc Mentone News – 21 October 2026