Council Meetings

The agenda and attachments for Council Meetings are made available to the public on the Wednesday evening prior to the scheduled Meeting. They can be downloaded below or a hard copy can be collected from Council's friendly Customer Service Team. To view both current and the last six (6) years agendas and minutes, click here.

The minutes from each Council Meeting are prepared and uploaded to the website within 5 days of the Meeting. Unconfirmed Minutes are to be confirmed at the next meeting, and then will be replaced on the website, with any amendments, if necessary.

To view the minutes from Council Meetings, click here and navigate to the relevant year.

Public Question Time provides an opportunity for members of the community to ask questions relating to Council’s activities, not make statements. Anyone wishing to address Council and make a statement may do so under the Invitation to Address Council section of the Meeting.

Any member of the public may ask a question. A person may ask a maximum of four questions per Meeting. Questions may be submitted in two ways:

1. Two questions can be submitted in writing and be ‘received on notice’ before the Meeting.
2. Two questions may be raised from the public gallery ‘without notice’ during Public Question Time.

Below is a summary of public questions with or without notice, with full procedures available in Council Policy No. 41 - Council Meeting Procedures - click here to download.

Putting a Question on Notice

1. Members of the public are encouraged to submit a question(s) in writing and be put on notice to address the Council in the next ordinary Meeting. Council recommends this option as it will enable Council to provide a considered and complete response.
2. A maximum of two questions may be submitted in writing before the Meeting.
3. Members of the public can submit a question(s) in writing by any of the following methods - with all questions clearly marked for the attention of the General Manager and be in the format of the registration form:
   1. Email: gm@dorset.tas.gov.au or dorset@dorset.tas.gov.au - download the template form here
   2. Via online submission form available at here
   3. In Person: 3 Ellenor Street, Scottsdale
   4. Mail: PO Box 21, Scottsdale TAS 7260
4. Any question(s) on notice must be received at least 7 days before a Meeting and in accordance with the period of notification.
5. Questions receive ‘on notice’ in writing to be answered will be listed on the agenda for the next ordinary Meeting.

Questions without Notice

1. Members of the public wishing to ask Questions without Notice will be required to register their intent with Council’s Executive Assistant prior to the commencement of the Meeting.
2. Questions without Notice are required to be provided in writing to Council’s Executive Assistant for inclusion in the minutes of the Meeting either at the Meeting, or within 24 hours of the Meeting concluding.
3. Questions without Notice will be dependent on available time at the Meeting within the allocated time. This allocated time may be extended at the discretion of the Chairperson to a maximum of 30 minutes.

At a Council Meeting

The following rules and procedures apply to Public Question Time:

1. Members of the public are to stand (if able) and announce their name and the suburb / town they reside before asking a question (all of which will be recorded in the minutes).
2. Questions are to be put succinctly and in the form of a question, not a comment.
3. Where a member of the public asks a question that is inappropriate, defamatory, offensive or constitutes bullying behaviour of Councillors or Council employees, the Chairperson may give the individual a warning that if they persist, they will be asked to leave the Council Meeting. The Chairperson may then take reasonable steps to remove the person from the Meeting, including requesting the assistance of a Police Officer in removing the person.
4. If more than one person wishes to ask a question, the Chairperson is to determine the order in which those questions are asked.
5. Questions relating to planning applications that are to be decided at that Meeting, or a future Meeting will be taken on notice.
6. Questions must be directed to the Chairperson who shall answer or direct the question to the appropriate Councillor or Council Officer. A question will be answered if the information is known, otherwise taken on notice and responded to in the next ordinary Meeting agenda and in writing to the member of the public who asked the question.

Local Government (Meeting Procedures) Regulations 2025 - Regulation 46(1) gives persons the opportunity to address a Council Meeting. Council has determined that that the following procedures will apply to any person when addressing a Meeting:

1. A statement is an address or report to Council; it is not a question or discussion time with Councillors. Statements by members of the public and questions asked by Councillors are not to be debated.
2. Members of the public wishing to address Council at a Meeting shall indicate their intent and subject matter in writing by 10am on the Friday prior to the Meeting. The notification can be made by any of the following methods - clearly marked for the attention of the General Manager. The Mayor and General Manager may exercise discretion on this notification deadline in exceptional circumstances.:
   1. Email: gm@dorset.tas.gov.au or dorset@dorset.tas.gov.au
   2. In Person: 3 Ellenor Street, Scottsdale
   3. Mail: PO Box 21, Scottsdale TAS 7260
3. All proposed statements are to be provided in writing prior to the Meeting to allow for circulation to Councillors and inclusion in the minutes of the Council Meeting.
4. Council will allow a maximum of 15 minutes for public statements at Meetings.
5. A person(s) seeking to make a statement to Council may speak for a period up to 3 minutes but may be extended at the discretion of the Chairperson to a maximum of 5 minutes.
6. Prior to making a statement, members of the public are to stand (if able) and announce their name and the suburb / town they reside (all of which will be recorded in the minutes).
   1. A maximum of five deputations will be permitted on any one planning application. The Chairperson has the right to refuse or cease an address where the statement is a repetition of a previous public address.
7. The subject of any statement can relate to a matter currently before, or at some future stage to come before the Council, or any other matter of general relevance to the interest of Dorset.
8. Statements in relation to planning applications that are to be decided at that Meeting, or a future Meeting are:
   1. not to exceed 5 minutes in duration.
   2. only to be made by the applicant or a valid representor.
   3. limited to statements supporting the content of representations made during the statutory advertising period of the planning application and cannot introduce new information pertaining to the application.
9. Comments and statements are not to be defamatory, offensive or abusive, or be designed to embarrass any person, including Council employees or Councillors.
10. Statements are not to be repetitive of points already made. Several people repeating a common position should nominate a single speaker on their behalf.

Council held its 2025 Annual General Meeting at the Council Chambers, 3 Ellenor Street, Scottsdale on Monday, 8 December 2025. At the AGM,, the 2024/25 Annual Report was formally presented to the community.

To view the agenda, attachments and minutes from Council's Annual General Meeting, click here. You can also view previous Annual Reports via the same link.

Council holds monthly briefing workshops where Councillors can discuss upcoming items for decision, listen to external presentations from agencies or community groups and receive internal updates on correspondence received or project status. These Workshops are confidential and not open to the general public, and held on the first Tuesday of each month with the exception of January - where no Workshop is held - and April due to Easter.

Along with the monthly briefing workshops, Councillors also have three quarterly external presentation sessions listed. This allows for agencies and other external groups to present on a dedicated day.

Councillors are provided with a session prior to any Council Meeting where they are required to act as a Planning Authority. These are generally held on the Friday prior to the Council Meeting, and allow planning staff to present the whole application and explain information provided to ensure that elected members have all the information required to make an informed decision at the Council Meeting.

To ensure that community members continue to have regular access to their elected members without having to travel to Scottsdale, Councillors will continue to hold informal meet and greet sessions, as previously undertaken prior to community Council Meetings.

Historically, these sessions are well attended and provide an avenue for open engagement without the restrictions of relevant legislation. Holding these sessions separately to Council Meetings also allows greater flexibility in which townships can be visited, with previous constraints on venues suitable, thus opening direct community engagement opportunities with townships such as Tomahawk and Musselroe Bay.

In 2026, the following dates and locations have been identified, with times and venues to be publicly advertised in both the local weekly newspaper, Council's social media and in the local community.