VPRS 15416 Function / Content Minutes of council meetings were created in accordance with section 145 of the Municipal Institutions Act 1863 (27 Vic., No.184) and with subsequent legislation relating to local government including the Local Government Act 1958 (No.6299). Many local government bodies in existence prior to 1863 maintained records of their meetings in the form of minutes. These acts have required that for each meeting of council, minutes of all proceedings are recorded together with the names of all councillors present and all who vote for and against motions. The master set of minutes is also required to be signed by the mayor or chairman of the meeting once the minutes have been confirmed at the following council meeting. The minutes relate to the wide range of activities for which the council is responsible, including building, community services, collection of rates, property valuation and town planning. The committee system is employed by most Victorian councils. The Local Government Act 1903 (No.1893) removed the requirement that separate committee minutes be kept and introduced the requirement that committees' reports to council be included in the council minutes. In some cases, the minutes of committees are recorded in the council minute books, either in lieu of or in addition to committee reports. Where committee minutes were maintained in separate volumes they constitute a separate series from the council minutes. Recordkeeping System Consult the Accession Consignment List to identify item/s of interest and call up relevant unit. Indexes were occasionally created for minutes. These are found either in the volumes that they index or in a separate volume. 15417 Function / Content This series may contain the minutes of a single committee or a number of committees. The committee system is employed by most Victorian councils. A committee may be appointed by a council for any purpose which it is felt would be better regulated and managed by such committee. A committee may be either a standing committee or an occasional committee. Standing committees (in areas such as finance, public works, health, etc.) are appointed to oversee specific matters on an ongoing basis. Such committees submit reports to the council regularly and these are included in the Council Minutes. Occasional committees are appointed for shorter terms to manage such things are arrangements for ceremonial occasions. Membership of committees is made up of some or all of the councillors of the municipality. The Municipal Institutions Act 1863 (No. 184) introduced provisions that required councils to appoint committees and specified that committee minutes should be kept and signed by the chairman at the following meeting. The Local Government Act 1874 (No. 506) included the requirement that committees report to council. (No prohibition existed against councils operating with committees prior to these acts.) The Local Government Act 1903 (No. 1893) removed the requirement that minutes be kept and added the requirement that committees' reports to council be included in the council minutes. Subsequent legislation including the Local Government Act 1958 (No. 6299) has continued these requirements. The minutes generally record the names of councillors who attended the meeting, details of agenda items and decisions made. Once the minutes have been confirmed as correct at the following committee meeting, they are signed or certified by the mayor or chairman of the meeting. Recordkeeping System Consult the Accession Consignment List to identify item/s of interest and call up relevant unit. Minutes of meetings are arranged by committee and in chronological order by date of meeting. Consult the Consignment Details to determine which unit contains the minutes for the committee and for the period in which you are interested. Indexes were occasionally created for minutes. These are found either in the volumes that they index or in a separate volume.