Regional Sittings
Regional Sittings
The first regional sittings were on 16 August 2001 when the Legislative Council sat in Ballarat and the Legislative Assembly in Bendigo. These were the Victorian Parliament's first sittings outside of Melbourne in its 145 year history and were the first meetings of any Australasian legislature outside of a capital city.
These purpose of regional sittings is to afford people the opportunity to see their elected representatives at work, and to educate the public about the processes of Parliament.
In order to provide visitors with an accurate indication of what normally occurs when Parliament sits, the proceedings at both Legislative Council regional sittings were designed to reflect, as much as possible, a typical sitting day.
The Premier released a statement to the media on the 5th of December 2007 outlining the regional sittings (Media Release).