Councillors appointed to Advisory Committees

Published on 12 February 2021

Specialist advisory committees will inform and influence future Council decision making following the adoption of Council’s first Advisory Committee Policy and the appointment of Councillor representatives this week.

While the Local Government Act 2020 does not reference Advisory Committees, Council has a long history of engaging community members through specialist committees and has opted to strengthen their function and improve transparency through formal annual reporting to Council and publicly available minutes.

Standard Terms of Reference have also been adopted, ensuring consistent governance across the board.

Each Advisory Committee will have a minimum of five members, with at least two Councillor representatives and three to eight community members, selected based on their skills, equity, and diversity. 

Committees formed for this Council term, and their councillor representatives include:

Arts and Culture Advisory Committee

Cr Annemarie McCabe, Cr Michael Leaney

Access and Inclusion Advisory Committee

Cr Jazmin Tauru, Cr Tricia Jones

Early Years Advisory Committee

Cr Joe Gauci, Cr Danny Goss 

Environmental Voice Advisory Committee

Cr Peter Kostos, Cr Tricia Jones

Healthy in Baw Baw Advisory Committee

Cr Ben Lucas, Cr Jazmin Tauru

Place Names Advisory Committee

Cr Peter Kostos, Cr Jazmin Tauru

Roads Infrastructure Advisory Committee

Cr Darren Wallace, Cr Michael Leaney, Cr Peter Kostos

Committees will be reviewed within six months of each Council election and external community members will be eligible for recurring terms.

Quotes attributable to Mayor Cr Danny Goss:

 "Advisory committees have an incredibly important function in advising Council and steering decisions to ensure we achieve the best outcomes for our community. The advice we receive as Councillors is invaluable.

 “It’s great to see these committees back up and running with improved transparency, standardised governance, and a genuine commitment to engage skilled and diverse community representatives.”