Tonight's ordinary council meeting is likely to be the last in a strange legal limbo caused by the COVID-19 crisis.
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While local government meetings in other states have gone online, Victoria has lagged behind.
In Ballarat, councillors will again meet in town hall, placed in pairs at either end of long tables as part of physical distancing measures.
The state parliament will hold an emergency sitting tomorrow (Thursday April 23), where it is likely to pass legislation that will allow council meetings to be held virtually for the rest of the crisis.
Many councils across the state - including Hepburn Shire and the City of Greater Bendigo - have opted to cancel council meetings over the past few weeks.
The City of Ballarat has continued to hold meetings with revised measures in place.
The public is also barred from attending but can watch meetings broadcast. While this is in keeping with strict "Stage 3" restrictions brought in by the state government last month, local government law currently says the public must be allowed to attend.
Revised local government laws, which permit meetings to be closed to the public for security reasons, will enter into force at the beginning of next month.
A state government spokesperson told The Courier that the legislation changes, if passed, would allow council meetings as well as joint meetings of councils, delegated committee meetings, joint delegated committee meetings, and regional library meetings to be take place virtually.
The revision would remain in place while stay-at-home and physical distancing measures are in place.
The New South Wales government passed emergency legislation around four weeks ago to allow councils in that state to hold their public meetings virtually. Local governments in Tasmania, South Australia and Western Australia are also already holding official meetings online.
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