South Australia councils to use special laws to meet online during coronavirus pandemic
Special laws have been rushed through State Parliament to allow councils to meet online during the coronavirus pandemic.
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South Australian councils will meet for the first time online under new laws rushed through State Parliament.
Several metropolitan councils this week cancelled their monthly meetings because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Under urgent changes to the Local Government Act, elected members will now be able to meet electronically through online forums.
Councils can also opt to meet monthly — rather than fortnightly.
The new laws were approved by State Cabinet on Monday and presented to both houses of State Parliament on Tuesday.
Adelaide City Council on Monday met in the Adelaide Town Hall, rather than a committee room, so elected members could observe social distancing.
Marion, Holdfast Bay, and Burnside cancelled their meetings while Tea Tree Gully, Salisbury, Playford, Gawler, Campbelltown and Prospect went ahead with limitations placed on where members of the public could sit.
Only a handful of metropolitan Adelaide councils live stream or provide audio recordings of their meetings to the public.
Several councils are investigating the use of a software program called Zoom which enables a maximum of 100 people to participate in an online forum.
This would enable all elected members and staff to connect remotely with other available spots allocated to members of the public.