A Greater Dandenong councillor’s pitch to change meeting days from Mondays to Tuesdays has sunk without support from colleagues.
There were no movers for Cr Alice Phuong Le’s notice of motion at the 27 January, with Cr Le herself an apology from the meeting.
The motion had raised eyebrows, coming shortly after Greater Dandenong halved the number of council meetings from fortnightly to monthly in 2026.
The rationale for fewer meetings was a lack of items on the agenda, particularly due to less town planning applications being decided by councillors.
As background for her motion, Cr Le cited fatigue and unsustainable workloads for councillors.
She argued councillors had insufficient time to consider “complex, highly technical and lengthy” meeting reports between the release of agenda papers on Thursday and the meeting on the following Monday.
Cr Le cited excessive weekend workloads due to attending community events, meetings with residents and stakeholders, and emergencies.
As a result, the quality of decisions, debates and scrutiny of council reports were at risk, she stated.
“The current timetable contributes to unsustainable workloads, fatigue and reduced performance capacity.
“Effective governance requires Councillors to be well-rested, focused and fully prepared.”
Cr Le argued a move to Tuesdays would bring Greater Dandenong in line with many other councils who meet mid-week.
As well as being an apology for the 27 January meeting, Cr Le was also granted a leave-of-absence from 6 February-6 March.
Councillors have long described heavy workloads, particularly in balancing other work and caring roles.
More than 75 per cent of councillors nominated this as their biggest challenge, according to a 2017 Municipal Association of Victoria census.
In 2019, more than 70 per cent of Victorian councillors stated they committed at least 16 hours a week to their duties. Nearly 20 per cent put in 32 hours or more.
Greater Dandenong’s councillors are paid $41,992 a year, as set by the Victorian Independent Remuneration Tribunal.
Mayors and deputy mayors are paid $142,661 and $71,329 respectively.
