Appointer Sydney City Council Website Lord Mayor of Sydney | Term length 4 years | |
 | ||
Style The Right Honourable Lord Mayor Inaugural holder Ald. Charles Windeyer (Mayor)
Ald. Sir Thomas Hughes
(Lord Mayor) Formation 1842 (as Mayor)
1902 (as Lord Mayor) | ||
The Right Honourable Lord Mayor of Sydney is the honorific title of the head of Sydney City Council which is the local government body for the City of Sydney, 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 2004, replacing the previous system of being internally elected by the Councillors, and served a four-year term. The most recent election was held on 10 September 2016, at which the incumbent Lord Mayor, Clover Moore, Independent, was re-elected.
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Background
The office of Mayor of Sydney along with the Sydney municipality was created 20 July 1842 pursuant to the Sydney City Incorporation Act 1842 by Governor Sir George Gipps, of the New South Wales Legislative Council. This replaced the previous system under an Act of 1833, whereby three police commissioners were responsible for local conditions. The office of Mayor was elevated to Lord Mayor in 1902 by King Edward VII, and as part of this process received the honorific The Right Honourable (The Rt Hon.).
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. Recently, it has become the custom not to wear the robes.