Brisbane City Council will introduce hybrid council meetings, despite initially knocking back pregnant Labor councillor Kara Cook's request to permanently allow meeting attendance via video conferencing.
Last November, Cr Cook condemned the council's position as "archaic" after chief executive Colin Jensen told her it would be too costly and time-consuming for council to switch to a hybrid in-person and online model by the time she gave birth.
At the time, council instead offered a Cabcharge card to allow the Morningside ward councillor to get in and out of the city with her baby, as well as a baby changing room next to the council chamber.
After Cr Cook spoke to the media about the situation, LNP Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner said he was "quite confident" there would be a "satisfactory" arrangement in place to meet her requests.
Cr Schrinner also denied that Cr Cook's request had been rejected, saying it was just that her request was not immediately possible.
The council's autumn session resumes on February 2 and today, all councillors received a letter from Mr Jensen detailing new arrangements for hybrid meetings.
Most chamber and committee meetings last year were held entirely via video-conferencing because of COVID-19 social distancing rules.
The letter confirmed all meetings would be in-person from next month, but that councillors could also take part via video conferencing if the council's chairman or committee chair approved the request ahead of time.
"Councillors participating remotely will be visible via a Microsoft Teams meeting on a large screen in the meeting room, and in the case of council meetings, will be visible on the public livestream while speaking," Mr Jensen wrote in the letter.
Cr Cook, who had her baby earlier this month, said it was "refreshing" to see the council adapting to the needs of the modern workplace and that "diversity and equity have won in the end".
"Hybrid meetings will open up opportunities for those who might not otherwise have thought they could participate in the political process," she said.
Finance and administration committee chairman Adam Allan said the new meeting model would allow councillors working remotely "to see, hear and participate in the meeting in real time".
Both the council chamber meeting and the committee meetings, held each Tuesday during council sessions, will be hybrid models.
"The remote participant will be visible in the room for the chair and councillors, as well as visible on any public livestreaming," Cr Allan said.
"The cost of this implementation is approximately $20,000."
