to strengthen human rights protections. The
most common changes to local laws relate to
participation in council meetings, with the focus
on increasing public access and strengthening
council accountability to its constituency. For
example, in 2012 Whittlesea City Council adopted
the Procedural Matters Local Law, which governs
Council meetings. The local law included specific
provisions to facilitate questions being asked by
people with disability at Council meetings.
Government Victoria provide a good process
to ensure that local councils consult with the
community when they are developing local laws.
A number of councils report that they have
reviewed local laws in accordance with these
guidelines. Any local law prepared in this way
will consider the impact of the law on human
rights as part of a Local Laws community Impact
Statement.
to ensure that they met human rights obligations
when adopting Community Local Law Number
3 in December 2011 provides a good example
of a comprehensive approach to law-making.
The council held an information and consultation
forum for the public and one with local builders,
and issued public notices inviting submissions.
It also held three meetings to discuss the
development of the law and five sub-committee
meetings reviewed submissions and modified
the Local Law. Although the council did not
receive any submissions specifically raising
concerns with the impact on a human right
under the Charter, the council itself identified
some potential limitations with the proposal but
concluded that that controls imposed were not
incompatible with the rights under the Charter.