DEMOCRACY POLICY

Local Government should be governed by democratic principles to the highest standards of transparency and accountability, and should respect, protect and fulfill human rights. Greens on Council push for the decisions and strategic direction of Council to be influenced by open consultation processes.

Principles
1The City should have strong democratic principles of proportional representation, based primarily on an electoral roll of residents.
2Melbourne City Council should be as accountable and transparent as practical.
3Residents and ratepayers can and should be more directly involved in the decisions of their Council.
4Election to council and the operations of council must be free from the influence of developer and gambling donations.
5Human rights, including the right to peaceful protest, should be protected by Council.

Aims: Electoral reform
1Advocate for amendments to the Local Government Act 2020 to reinstate council autonomy to choose the method of election, thus allowing communities to choose methods that encourage civic participation and which maximise options and accessibility for voters.
2Advocate for a comprehensive and consultative review of the City of Melbourne’s electoral structure, whilst advocating for:
(i) Retention of the popular election for the position of Lord Mayor, but not Deputy Lord Mayor, while permitting Lord Mayoral candidates to also stand as Councillor candidates;
(ii) The retention of an unsubdivided district, in the interests of fair proportionality, but requesting that the review explore the feasibility of future multi-member wards;
(iii) Removal of the double vote for businesses, and the abolition of the automatic and compulsory enrolment provisions for non-residential voters; and
(iv) The enfranchisement of all residents, irrespective of citizenship status.
3Improve awareness-raising measures for elections, particularly to young and non-English speaking voters.
4Advocate for recognition of Local Government in the Australian Constitution.

Aims: Civic engagement
5Ensure the universal use of decision making processes that incorporate ratepayer and resident input and are not subject to disproportionate influence by interest groups.
6Engage with residents and ratepayers on decisions which impact them, in accordance with International Association for Public Participation principles, whilst being clear and genuine about the purpose of community forums.
7Expand Council’s program of deliberative democracy programs for long term strategies as well as important routine processes such as budget setting.
8Explore and implement methods to better engage with and increase participation of poorly engaged sections of community and business, including newly arrived residents, the elderly and disabled, apartment dwellers and micro-businesses.
9Produce and promulgate simple information on Council’s democratic processes and governance structures.
10Promote accessible and transparent processes of consultation with residents and ratepayers.
11Guarantee to everyone the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association within the City.

Aims: Accountability, Transparency, Accessibility
12Improve online public access to Council documentation and data.
13Provide access to individual councillor performance data including attendance and participation rates.
14Require that Council information is translated and that interpreters are available during community consultations as required.
15Strengthen the measures of sustainability by which Council’s performance is monitored and publicly reported on to residents.
16Limit the number of confidential decisions as far as practicable under the Act and, where confidential decisions are made, seek to publish them as soon as the reason for confidentiality has expired.
17Ensure that the Public Transparency Policy is reviewed at least once per term with considerable opportunities for public consultation.