School Council – Meetings

Standing Orders

A school council may develop and approve Standing Orders to assist in the effective and efficient operation of meetings.

It is good practice to establish Standing Orders and review them each year following completion of the election process.

Standing Orders typically include a description of meeting procedures, such as the:

• length of meetings
• agenda
• minutes
• quorum requirements
• meetings arrangements
• open and closed meetings
• effective decision-making
• member absence from meetings
• arrangements for extensions of meeting
• meeting etiquette

The Education and Training Reform Regulations 2017 (Vic) set out certain legal requirements in relation to conducting school council meetings. These requirements cannot be overridden by the Standing Orders determined by a school council.

The Department provides a sample set of Standing Orders for councils in Improving School Governance — Governance module and also at Sample Standing Orders for a school council meeting.