South Australian Current Acts South Australian Current Acts90—Meetings to be held in public except in special circumstances
(1) Subject to this
section, a meeting of a council or council committee must be conducted in a
place open to the public.
(2) A council or
council committee may order that the public be excluded from attendance at a
meeting to the extent (and only to the extent) that the council or council
committee considers it to be necessary and appropriate to act in a meeting
closed to the public in order to receive, discuss or consider in confidence
any information or matter listed in subsection (3) (after taking into
account any relevant consideration under that subsection).
(3) The following
information and matters are listed for the purposes of subsection (2):
(a)
information the disclosure of which would involve the unreasonable disclosure
of information concerning the personal affairs of any person (living or dead);
(b)
information the disclosure of which—
(i)
could reasonably be expected to confer a commercial
advantage on a person with whom the council is conducting, or proposing to
conduct, business, or to prejudice the commercial position of the council; and
(ii)
would, on balance, be contrary to the public interest;
(c)
information the disclosure of which would reveal a trade secret;
(d)
commercial information of a confidential nature (not being a trade secret) the
disclosure of which—
(i)
could reasonably be expected to prejudice the commercial
position of the person who supplied the information, or to confer a commercial
advantage on a third party; and
(ii)
would, on balance, be contrary to the public interest;
(e)
matters affecting the security of the council, members or employees of the
council, or council property, or the safety of any person;
(f)
information the disclosure of which could reasonably be expected to prejudice
the maintenance of law, including by affecting (or potentially affecting) the
prevention, detection or investigation of a criminal offence, or the right to
a fair trial;
(g)
matters that must be considered in confidence in order to ensure that the
council does not breach any law, order or direction of a court or tribunal
constituted by law, any duty of confidence, or other legal obligation or duty;
(h)
legal advice;
(i)
information relating to actual litigation, or litigation
that the council or council committee believes on reasonable grounds will take
place, involving the council or an employee of the council;
(j)
information the disclosure of which—
(i)
would divulge information provided on a confidential
basis by or to a Minister of the Crown, or another public authority or
official (not being an employee of the council, or a person engaged by the
council); and
(ii)
would, on balance, be contrary to the public interest;
(k)
tenders for the supply of goods, the provision of services or the carrying out
of works;
(m)
information relating to a proposal to prepare or amend a designated instrument
under Part 5 Division 2 of the Planning, Development and
Infrastructure Act 2016 before the draft instrument or amendment is
released for public consultation under that Act;
(n)
information relevant to the review of a determination of a council under the
Freedom of Information Act 1991 ;
(o)
information relating to a proposed award recipient before the presentation of
the award.
(4) In considering
whether an order should be made under subsection (2), it is irrelevant
that discussion of a matter in public may—
(a)
cause embarrassment to the council or council committee concerned, or to
members or employees of the council; or
(b)
cause a loss of confidence in the council or council committee; or
(c)
involve discussion of a matter that is controversial within the council area;
or
(d) make
the council susceptible to adverse criticism.
(5) A person who,
knowing that an order is in force under subsection (2), enters or remains
in a room in which a meeting of the council or council committee is being held
is guilty of an offence and liable to a penalty not exceeding $500 and if such
a person fails to leave the room on request it is lawful for an employee of
the council or a member of the police force to use reasonable force to remove
him or her from the room.
(6)
Subsection (5) does not apply to—
(a) a
member of the council or the council committee; or
(b) any
other person permitted to be in the room by the council or the
council committee.
(7) If an order is
made under subsection (2), a note must be made in the minutes of the
making of the order and specifying—
(a) the
grounds on which the order was made; and
(b) the
basis on which the information or matter to which the order relates falls
within the ambit of each ground on which the order was made; and
(c) if
relevant, the reasons that receipt, consideration or discussion of the
information or matter in a meeting open to the public would be contrary to the
public interest.
(7a) A council
committee meeting will be taken to be conducted in a place open to the public
for the purposes of this section even if 1 or more committee members
participate in the meeting by telephone or other electronic means in
accordance with any procedures prescribed by the regulations or determined by
the council under section 89 (provided that members of the public can
hear the discussion between all committee members and subject to the
qualification that a council may direct a committee not to use telephone or
other electronic means for the purposes of its meetings).
(9) In this
section—
"personal affairs" of a person includes—
(a) that
person's—
(i)
financial affairs;
(ii)
criminal records;
(iii)
marital or other personal relationships;
(iv)
personal qualities, attributes or health status;
(b) that
person's employment records, employment performance or suitability for a
particular position, or other personnel matters relating to the person,
but does not include the personal affairs of a body corporate.