Whittlesea council is set to trial the live streaming of its council meetings.
The council will conduct a two meeting trial later this year to determine whether it should proceed with plans to broadcast meetings on the internet.
A report to the council earlier this month recommended that the council start discussions with Channel 31 to provide a live streaming service for 12 months, with $25,000 to be included in the 2018-19 budget.
However, councillors chose to delay the introduction of live streaming, opting for two trial meetings to be broadcast and reviewed by the council first.
Under the proposed partnership with Channel 31, the council would have the option of streaming its meetings on multiple sources including its website, Facebook and YouTube.
Currently, 13 of Victoria’s 79 councils live stream their meetings, while 14 upload audio after the meetings.
Cr Stevan Kozmevski said the council had a lot to consider, including its recent performance, before it began live streaming meetings.
“This council needs to grow up before we even consider live streaming,” he said.
Cr Lawrie Cox said it was essential that the council had considered the risks associated with broadcasting meetings.
“We need to be very careful about how live streaming is used and produced. We need to ensure we are covered in all circumstances,” he said.
“If we are satisfied there is a pressing need for it, we can proceed with it.”
