List of mayors, lord mayors and administrators of Sydney

Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates Template:Use Australian English Template:Infobox political post The Right Honourable the Lord Mayor of Sydney is the head of the Council of the City of Sydney, which is the local government area covering the central business district of Sydney in the State of New South Wales, Australia. The Lord Mayor has been directly elected since 1995, replacing the previous system of being internally elected annually by the Councillors, and serves a four-year term. The most recent election was held on 14 September 2024, at which the incumbent Lord Mayor, Clover Moore, was re-elected to a sixth term. The Lord Mayor is assisted in their work by a Deputy Lord Mayor, who is elected on an annual basis by the elected councillors.

Office history

The office of the Mayor of Sydney along with the City of Sydney was created on 20 July 1842 pursuant to the Sydney City Incorporation Act 1842 by Governor Sir George Gipps. Prior to the first municipal election, the governor nominated magistrate Charles Windeyer to serve as interim mayor.<ref name=windeyer>Template:Cite news</ref> The first council, consisting of 24 aldermen elected across six wards, was declared elected on 3 November 1842 and first met in the George Street Market Building (now the site of the Queen Victoria Building) on 9 November and elected John Hosking as the first elected mayor of Sydney.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

The title of Mayor (in full: The Right Worshipful the Mayor<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>) was elevated to "Lord Mayor" on 23 November 1902 by King Edward VII, and as part of this process received the honorific The Right Honourable, a title which attaches to the title of Lord Mayor and not to the individual holding the office.<ref name=LM/> In December 1915, the Parliament of New South Wales passed the Sydney Corporation (Election of Mayor) Act, 1915 which amended the 1902 act to allow for the governor to appoint the lord mayor should the council be unable to elect a candidate on or before 30 December of any year.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> This occurred three times, in 1916, 1920 and 1934.

The office of lord mayor, along with the City of Sydney, was governed by the Sydney Corporation Act, 1932 until the passing of the Local Government (Areas) Act 1948, which placed Sydney under the terms of the Local Government Act 1919, which governed all other local governments in the state. This meant that the election of lord mayor (until 1971 in December of each year, and then in September) marked the beginning of the term, instead of the previous system, where the lord mayoral term began on 1 January and expired on 31 December. When the City of Sydney Act 1988 was passed, the City of Sydney was once again governed under a separate law, but the election of lord mayor did not change until the Local Government Legislation Amendment Act 1995, which allowed for popular direct elections from 1995.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Vestments of office

As head of the council, the lord mayor is entitled to wear the chains and robes of office, as befitting the ancient status of lord mayor of a large city. In 1902 the Sydney Chamber of Commerce commissioned the first link of a mayoral chain. In 1903, the governor of New South Wales, Sir Harry Rawson presented the first lord mayor, Thomas Hughes, with the chain of office. It features the coat of arms of the Sydney Chamber of Commerce and the Stock Exchange and a pendant depicting the coat of arms of Sydney. Successive mayors each added a medallion, on which was embossed their term of office. By 1945, this practice had ended because of the size and weight of the chain. Today, the chain is worn with the robes of office only for rare civic ceremonies, a smaller collar being worn for most civic duties.

The original civic robe for the mayor of Sydney in 1842 was purple, trimmed with ermine and worn with a court dress hat. The current robes worn by the lord mayor and deputy lord mayor are black, trimmed with ermine, and worn with bicorne hat, lace jabot and white gloves. They are worn rarely and only at major civic functions.<ref>City of Sydney: Mace, chain and robes at City of Sydney official website</ref> Recently, it has become the custom not to wear the robes.

List of mayors, lord mayors and administrators

#	Officeholder	Party/Affiliation		Title	Term start	Term end	Time in office	Notes
Template:Dts	Charles Windeyer	n/a		Mayor	12 August 1842	9 November 1842	Template:Ayd	<ref name=windeyer/>
Template:Dts	John Hosking				9 November 1842	1843		<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Template:Dts	James Robert Wilshire				25 September 1843	November 1844		<ref>Template:Cite encyclopedia</ref>
Template:Dts	George Allen				November 1844	November 1845		<ref>Template:Cite encyclopedia</ref>
Template:Dts	Henry Macdermott				1846	1846
Template:Dts	Thomas Broughton				1847	1847
Template:Dts	Joshua Frey Josephson				1848	1848
Template:Dts	Edward Flood				1849	1849
Template:Dts	George Hill				1850	1850
Template:Dts	William Edward Thurlow				1851	1852
Template:Dts	Daniel Egan				1853	1853
n/a	Gilbert Elliot			Chief Commissioner	1854	1856
	Frederick Orme Darval			Commissioner
	John Rae
Template:Dts	George Thornton			Mayor	1857	1857
Template:Dts	John Williams				1858	1858
Template:Dts	George Smith				1859	1859
Template:Dts	James Murphy				1860	1860
Template:Dts	John Sutherland				1861	1861
Template:Dts	James Oatley				1862	1862
Template:Dts	Thomas Spence				1863	1863
Template:Dts	William Speer				1864	1864
Template:Dts	John Woods				1865	1865
Template:Dts	John Sutton				1866	1866
Template:Dts	Charles Moore				1867	1869
Template:Dts	Walter Renny				1869	1870
Template:Dts	Michael Chapman				1871	1872
Template:Dts	James Merriman				1873	1873
Template:Dts	Stephen Styles Goold				1874	1874
Template:Dts	Benjamin Palmer				1875	1876
–	James Merriman				1877	1878
Template:Dts	Charles James Roberts				1879	1879
Template:Dts	Robert Fowler				1880	1880
Template:Dts	John Harris				1881	1883
Template:Dts	John Hardie				1884	1884
Template:Dts	Thomas Playfair				Template:Start date	Template:End date	Template:Ayd	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Template:Dts	John Young				1 January 1886	31 December 1886	Template:Ayd	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Template:Dts	Alban Joseph Riley	Template:Australian party style|	Independent		1 January 1887	31 December 1887	Template:Ayd	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Template:Dts	John Harris	Template:Australian party style|	Independent		1 January 1888	31 December 1889	Template:Ayd	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Template:Dts	Sydney Burdekin	Template:Australian party style|	Independent		1 January 1890	10 April 1891	Template:Ayd	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Template:Dts	Sir William Patrick Manning	Template:Australian party style|	Independent		10 April 1891	31 December 1894	Template:Ayd	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Template:Dts	Samuel Edward Lees	Template:Australian party style|	Independent		1 January 1895	31 December 1895	Template:Ayd	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Template:Dts	Isaac Ellis Ives	Template:Australian party style|	Independent		1 January 1896	31 December 1897	Template:Ayd	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Template:Dts	Sir Matthew Harris	Template:Australian party style|	Independent		1 January 1898	31 December 1900	Template:Ayd	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Template:Dts	Sir James Graham	Template:Australian party style|	Independent		1 January 1901	31 December 1901	Template:Ayd	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Template:Dts	Thomas Hughes	rowspan=2 Template:Australian party style|	Independent		1 January 1902	23 November 1902	Template:Ayd	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
		Lord Mayor		23 November 1902	31 December 1903	Template:Ayd	<ref name=LM>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
–	Samuel Edward Lees		Template:Australian party style|	Independent	1 January 1904	31 December 1904	Template:Ayd	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Template:Dts	Allen Taylor		Template:Australian party style|	Independent	1 January 1905	31 December 1906	Template:Ayd	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
–	Thomas Hughes		Template:Australian party style|	Independent	1 January 1907	31 December 1908	Template:Ayd	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
–	Sir Allen Taylor		Template:Australian party style|	Independent	1 January 1909	1 May 1912	Template:Ayd	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Template:Dts	George Thomas Clarke		Template:Australian party style|	Independent	1 May 1912	31 December 1912	Template:Ayd	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Template:Dts	Sir Arthur Cocks		Template:Australian party style|	Independent	1 January 1913	31 December 1913	Template:Ayd	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Template:Dts	Richard Watkins Richards		Template:Australian party style|	Independent	1 January 1914	31 December 1915	Template:Ayd	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Template:Dts	Richard Meagher		Template:Australian party style|	Labor	15 January 1916	31 December 1917	Template:Ayd	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Template:Dts	James Joynton Smith		Template:Australian party style|	Independent	1 January 1918	31 December 1918	Template:Ayd	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Template:Dts	John English		Template:Australian party style|	Labor	1 January 1919	8 March 1919	Template:Ayd	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
–	Sir Richard Watkins Richards		Template:Australian party style|	Independent	11 March 1919	12 March 1920	Template:Ayd	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Template:Dts	William Patrick Fitzgerald		Template:Australian party style|	Labor	16 March 1920	31 December 1920	Template:Ayd	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Template:Dts	William Lambert		Template:Australian party style|		1 January 1921	31 December 1921	Template:Ayd	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Template:Dts	William McElhone		Template:Australian party style|	Independent	1 January 1922	31 December 1922	Template:Ayd	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Template:Dts	David Gilpin			Civic Reform	1 January 1923	31 December 1924	Template:Ayd	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Template:Dts	Patrick Vincent Stokes		Template:Australian party style|	Labor	1 January 1925	31 December 1926	Template:Ayd	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Template:Dts	John Harold Mostyn		Template:Australian party style|		1 January 1927	3 January 1928	Template:Ayd	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
n/a	Edmund Patrick Fleming	n/a		Chief Commissioner	3 January 1928	3 October 1928	Template:Ayd	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
	John Garlick			Commissioner		30 October 1928	Template:Ayd
	Henry Edgar Morton
n/a	John Garlick	n/a		Chief Commissioner	30 October 1928	30 June 1930	Template:Ayd	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=GarlickBennett>Template:Cite news</ref>
	Henry Edgar Morton			Commissioner				<ref name=GarlickBennett/><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
	Gordon Bennett
Template:Nts	Ernest Marks		Civic Reform	Lord Mayor	1 July 1930	31 December 1930	Template:Ayd	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Template:Nts	Joseph Jackson				1 January 1931	31 December 1931	Template:Ayd	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Template:Nts	Sir Samuel Walder				1 January 1932	31 December 1932	Template:Ayd	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Template:Nts	Richard Hagon	Template:Australian party style|	Independent		1 January 1933	31 December 1933	Template:Ayd	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Template:Nts	Sir Alfred Parker		Civic Reform		1 January 1934	18 October 1935	Template:Ayd	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Template:Nts	Arthur McElhone	Template:Australian party style|	Independent		22 October 1935	31 December 1935	Template:Ayd	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Template:Nts	Archibald Howie		Civic Reform		1 January 1936	31 December 1937	Template:Ayd	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Template:Nts	Sir Norman Nock				1 January 1938	31 December 1939	Template:Ayd	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Template:Nts	Stanley Crick				1 January 1940	31 December 1942	Template:Ayd	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Template:Nts	Reg Bartley				1 January 1943	31 December 1944	Template:Ayd	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Template:Nts	William Harding				1 January 1945	31 December 1945	Template:Ayd	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
–	Reg Bartley				1 January 1946	31 December 1948	Template:Ayd	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Template:Nts	Ernest Charles O'Dea	Template:Australian party style|	Labor		1 January 1949	9 December 1952	Template:Ayd	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Template:Nts	Pat Hills	Template:Australian party style|			9 December 1952	30 November 1956	Template:Ayd	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Template:Nts	Harry Jensen	Template:Australian party style|			1 December 1956	3 December 1965	Template:Ayd	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Template:Nts	John Armstrong	Template:Australian party style|			4 December 1965	13 November 1967	Template:Ayd	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
n/a	Vernon Treatt	n/a		Chief Commissioner	14 November 1967	26 September 1969	Template:Ayd	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
	John Shaw			Deputy Chief Commissioner
	William Pettingell			Commissioner
Template:Nts	Sir Laurence Emmet McDermott		Civic Reform	Lord Mayor	7 October 1969	25 September 1972	Template:Ayd	<ref name=mcdermottshehadie>Template:Cite news</ref>
Template:Dts	David Griffin				25 September 1972	24 September 1973	Template:Ayd	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Template:Dts	Sir Nicholas Shehadie				24 September 1973	26 September 1975	Template:Ayd	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=ShehadieLewis>Template:Cite news</ref>
Template:Dts	Leo Port				26 September 1975	26 August 1978	Template:Ayd	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Template:Dts	Nelson Meers				26 August 1978	19 September 1980	Template:Ayd	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Template:Dts	Doug Sutherland	Template:Australian party style|	Labor		20 September 1980	26 March 1987	Template:Ayd	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
n/a	Sir Eric Neal	n/a		Administrator	26 March 1987	6 April 1987	Template:Ayd	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
				Chief Commissioner	7 April 1987	31 December 1988	Template:Ayd	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
	Sir Nicholas Shehadie			Deputy Chief Commissioner				<ref>Template:Cite news </ref>
	Norman Oakes			Commissioner				<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Template:Dts	Jeremy Bingham		Civic Reform	Lord Mayor	3 January 1989	18 September 1991	Template:Ayd	<ref name=BinghamBonthorne>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Template:Dts	Frank Sartor	Template:Australian party style|	Living Sydney Independents		23 September 1991	7 April 2003	Template:Ayd	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=SartorTsang>Template:Cite news</ref>
Template:Dts	Lucy Turnbull	Template:Australian party style|			7 April 2003	6 February 2004	Template:Ayd	<ref name="TurnbullCoulton">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="turnbull-1">Template:Cite journal</ref><ref name="turnbull-2">Template:Cite news</ref>
n/a	Tony Pooley	n/a		Commissioner	6 February 2004	27 March 2004	Template:Ayd	<ref name="2004proc">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
	Garry Payne
	Lucy Turnbull
Template:Dts	Clover Moore		Clover Moore Independent Team	Lord Mayor	27 March 2004	Incumbent	Template:Ayd	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Deputy Lord Mayor

See Deputy Lord Mayor of Sydney

List of town clerks, general managers, and chief executive officers

The first Town Clerk of Sydney was appointed on 3 September 1842 on a provisional basis by the Governor, pending the election of aldermen. When the council was dismissed in December 1853 and replaced by a board of three commissioners, the post of town clerk was left vacant.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The Local Government Act, 1993 removed the requirement that the administrative head of a council be a "Town or Shire Clerk" and specified that the head was to be known as the general manager. The Sydney City Council had previously recognised the changing nature of role in appointing their first general manager in December 1992. In May 2005, the title of general manager was changed to chief executive officer (CEO).<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

#	Officeholder	Title	Term start	Term end	Time in office	Notes
Template:Nts	Richard O'Connor	Provisional Town Clerk	3 September 1842	16 November 1842	Template:Age in years and days
Template:Nts	Charles Henry Chambers	Town Clerk	16 November 1842	27 July 1843	Template:Age in years and days
Template:Nts	John Rae		27 July 1843	December 1853
Template:Nts	Charles Henry Woolcott	Town Clerk	1857	1887		citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Template:Nts	Henry J. Daniels		1887	31 January 1898
Template:Nts	John R. Palmer		19 July 1898	4 October 1899	Template:Age in years and days
Template:Nts	Robert Anderson		24 October 1899	25 January 1901	Template:Age in years and days
–	John R. Palmer	Acting Town Clerk	19 February 1901	31 December 1901	Template:Age in years and days
Template:Nts	Thomas Huggins Nesbitt	Town Clerk	1 January 1902	30 June 1924	Template:Age in years and days	<ref>Janet Howse, 'Nesbitt, Thomas Huggins (1853–1935)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/nesbitt-thomas-huggins-7818/text13569, published first in hardcopy 1988, accessed online 11 May 2017.</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Template:Nts	William Glazebrook Layton		1 July 1924	31 May 1931		<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Template:Nts	Roy Hendy		1 June 1931	28 February 1956	24 years, 272 days	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Template:Nts	Edward William Adams		1 March 1956	July 1962		<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Template:Nts	Jack Hercules Luscombe		July 1962	30 March 1974		citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Template:Nts	Leon Parmeter Carter		1 April 1974	August 1992
Template:Nts	Graham Joss	Acting Town Clerk	17 August 1992	4 December 1992	Template:Age in years and days
Template:Nts	Katie Lahey	General Manager	14 December 1992	25 August 1995	Template:Age in years and days	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Template:Nts	Greg Maddock		1 February 1996	January 2001
Template:Nts	Murray Douglas		February 2001	June 2001
Template:Nts	John Kass	Acting General Manager	July 2001	October 2001
Template:Nts	Robert Domm	General Manager	November 2001	September 2004		<ref name="2004proc"/>
Template:Nts	Petar Vladeta	Acting General Manager	October 2004	March 2005
Template:Nts	Peter Seamer	General Manager	March 2005	May 2005		citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
		Chief Executive Officer	May 2005	April 2006	11 months
Template:Nts	Monica Barone		7 August 2006	incumbent	Template:Age in years and days	<ref>Template:Cite press release</ref>

Election results

In 1995, the Local Government Legislation Amendment Act 1995<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> amended the City of Sydney Act 1988, to allow for popular direct elections of the Lord Mayor from September 1995.

External links

• City of Sydney
• "Mayors of Sydney" - City of Sydney
• Sydney’s Aldermen - City of Sydney