Elected members and council staff do not have parliamentary privilege like state and federal politicians do.

They can be sued for defamation, slander, and libel as a result of what is said during any of their meetings, especially those which are open to the public and livestreamed.

At Naracoorte Lucindale Council’s January 28 meeting, CEO Trevor Smart explained his previous advice around livestreaming and tort law.

This followed a question from Cr Cameron Grundy.

“When livestreaming came about…the CEO reminded us (about) common law torts that we as councillors would be exposed to,” Cr Grundy said.

He said common law torts included defamation, slander, and “all sorts of things”.

Cr Grundy referred to some reports to council which had “called into question” the professionalism of other organisations.

Earlier in the meeting Cr Craig McGuire had left the chamber after losing a motion 3-6 to have a public briefing session livestreamed regarding a report about council’s housing strategy.

Before leaving he also withdrew a second motion regarding a roads report.

Cr Grundy asked Mr Smart for clarification of torts and livestreaming regardless of those reports.

“Are we exposed to those common law torts in the way that we conduct ourselves and our duty of care going forward in public discussions, particularly those which are livestreamed?” Cr Grundy asked.

Mr Smart agreed he had previously outlined the legal risks.

“We as council, don’t have the same protections as state and federal governments,” Mr Smart said.

“Where they’re protected in their chambers, council is not.

“What we say, what we present is open to dispute, question, et cetera.

“Livestream is only an extension to that. So, our meetings are public, including our briefing sessions.

“A briefing session can be held in confidence.

“But it has to still meet all the requirements of a normal report that would go into a council agenda to say we can do this in confidence if it ticks a box of those provisions.

“So if it doesn’t, the briefing session will be held in public and anyone’s able to attend.

“So, whether it’s through attendance of livestream, the public’s allowed to hear what is said.

“So yeah, (briefing sessions) are open to the public. The same rules apply to briefing sessions as council meetings and committee meetings.”

Mayor Patrick Ross then asked Mr Smart to remind the chamber of the regulations brought about several years ago by former Local Government Minister Geoff Brock.

Mr Smart explained that council briefing sessions, workshops and information sessions were all the same – public meetings, and open for the public to attend.

The administration notified elected members of the meetings, and whether or not they were confidential matters.

He highlighted it did not matter if items were confidential because the administration did not advise the public the briefing sessions were even on until after they had happened.

This article appeared in the Naracoorte News.