Councillor attendance at the monthly council meetings has also varied, with six of the nine councillors having a perfect attendance, while the others drop as low as 69 per cent.
Greater Shepparton City Council made public the councillor attendance at meetings and briefings after a public question from Greater Shepparton resident Rowan Farren-Parnell to the February council meeting.
The figures that were provided to the council meeting in answer to the question collated the attendances of councillors throughout 2025.
Councillors Shane Sali, Geoff Akers, Anthony Brophy, Kieron Eddy, Rod Schubert and Sam Spinks attended all 11 of the council meetings for the year.
Cr Fern Summer attended 92 per cent and Cr Steven Threlfall went to 77 per cent of the meetings.
Cr Paul Wickham had the lowest attendance at council meetings, having been to 69 per cent.
In 2025, there were 38 councillor briefings.
These briefings generally occur once a week, but are not scheduled on the same weeks as council meetings.
Councillors Geoff Akers and Anthony Brophy attended all the briefings.
Councillors Kieron Eddy and Rod Schubert had the next best attendance, having been to 95 per cent of them.
Councillors Shane Sali, Sam Spinks and Fern Summer had 89 per cent attendance rates at briefings.
Cr Steven Threlfall went to 79 per cent of briefings.
Cr Paul Wickham attended less than half of the council briefings for the year, with a 45 per cent attendance rate.
Council chief executive office Fiona Le Gassick said while councillor attendance at the briefings was not mandatory “it was encouraged” as it formed “part of good governance and serving the community”.
Ms Le Gassick said the briefings provided an opportunity for councillors to receive information, ask questions and clarify any concerns ahead of formal decision‑making.
“Information presented at the briefings is also made available to councillors who are unable to attend, ensuring all councillors have access to the same material to assist with making informed decisions at council meetings,” she said.
Speaking to The News, Cr Wickham said he had been “a bit shocked” by his own numbers once they were put on paper.
“There’s certainly an improvement to be made there,” he said.
He said part of the reason for some of his low attendance numbers was because he owned his own pharmacy, and during the winter, had lost a staff member and at times was the only one there to do things such as administer flu shots.
He said he had also had times when he had planned to attend council business but had had a couple of staff members call in sick.
Cr Wickham said he had since hired new staff and had “put measures in place” around rostering to ensure he could attend more of the Tuesday briefings and meetings.
He said when it came to the council briefings they were not mandatory, and that there were a lot of procedures and policies in place that councillors had to “rubber stamp”.
He also said councillors could email directors if they wanted information on a particular topic.
“There can be lots of interesting stuff at (some) briefings, (while) others might just be a report that you can read that is just about local governance,” Cr Wickham said.
When questioned about whether prospective councillors at election time were aware of how much time was needed to take part in councillor activities such as meetings and briefings, Ms Le Gassick said council facilitated a series of candidate information sessions in the lead‑up to each election.
“These sessions provide detailed information about the role of a councillor, including the frequency and time commitment required for meeting preparation, attendance at councillor briefings and council meetings, as well as other responsibilities such as representing council at community events and committee meetings,” Ms Le Gassick said.
Mr Farren-Parnell, who unsuccessfully ran for council at the last local government election, said he put his questions to council because the people “wanted to know if councillors were meeting the expectations of the community”.
“Attendance at meetings and briefings are core,” he said.
“It has been revealing to see which councillors are meeting expectations and who is falling behind.
“Hopefully it is a wake-up to councillors that the community are noticing.”
2025 council meeting attendance
Shane Sali 100 per cent
Geoff Akers 100 per cent
Anthony Brophy 100 per cent
Kieron Eddy 100 per cent
Rod Schubert 100 per cent
Sam Spinks 100 per cent
Fern Summer 92 per cent
Steven Threlfall 77 per cent
Paul Wickham 69 per cent
2025 councillor briefing attendance
Geoff Akers 100 per cent
Anthony Brophy 100 per cent
Kieron Eddy 95 per cent
Rod Schubert 95 per cent
Shane Sali 89 per cent
Fern Summer 89 per cent
Steven Threlfall 79 per cent
Paul Wickham 45 per cent
