Brisbane City Council

Brisbane's Future Blueprint is a community-developed document, released in June 2018, outlining what the city council's goals should be. One in five households in Brisbane, representing every suburb, responded to the community consultation, totalling over 100,000 responses. More than 15,000 unique suggestions to improve Brisbane were put forward. The Blueprint provides for eight principles and 40 specific actions to make Brisbane a "friendly and liveable city":[11]

1. Create a city of neighbourhoods
2. Protect and create greenspace
3. Create more to see and do
4. Protect the Brisbane backyard and our unique character
5. Ensure best practice design that complements the character of Brisbane
6. Empower and engage residents
7. Get people home quicker and safer with more travel options
8. Give people more choice when it comes to housing

Brisbane Vision 2031 is the city council's long-term plan for developing Brisbane City. It outlines an additional eight principles to consider in developing council policy and supplements the city council's corporate plan 2016–17 and 2020–21.[12]

The Lord Mayor of Brisbane holds a role as the Chief Elected Executive of the Brisbane City Council, parallel to the role of the Chief Executive Officer, which is held by a civilian employee of the council. The Lord Mayor has a four-year term between elections, coinciding with general councillor elections.[13] The current Lord Mayor of Brisbane is Adrian Schrinner of the Liberal National Party, supported by Krista Adams, the Deputy Mayor.[5][6]

Brisbane City Council
31st Council
Coat of Arms
Logo
Type
Type	Unicameral
History
Founded	1924 (1924)
Preceded by	City of Brisbane City of South Brisbane
Leadership
Lord Mayor	Adrian Schrinner, Liberal National
Deputy Mayor	Krista Adams, Liberal National
Leader of the Opposition	Jared Cassidy, Labor
Chair of Council	David McLachlan, Liberal National
Structure
Seats	27 elected representatives including Lord Mayor and 26 Ward Councillors
Political groups	Majority (20)   Liberal National (20) Opposition (7)   Labor (5)   Greens (1)   Independent (1)
Committees	10
Length of term	4 years
Salary	A$164,156 (2021)[lower-alpha 2]
Elections
Voting system	Instant-runoff voting
First election	21 February 1925
Last election	28 March 2020
Next election	16 March 2024
Motto
Meliora Sequimur
Meeting place
Brisbane City Hall, King George Square, Brisbane
Website
www.brisbane.qld.gov.au

The Council of Brisbane is the high-level administrative board of Brisbane City Council, composed of all elected councillors in the City of Brisbane. There are 27 councillors, 26 from electoral wards in Brisbane and the Lord Mayor.[9]

Ordinary meetings of the council are held in the City Hall Council Chamber, 64 Adelaide Street, Brisbane. Meetings are on Tuesdays at 1pm (except during recess periods).[15]

The Chair of Council, elected by the Councillors, presides over each meeting. The Lord Mayor does not chair the proceedings. The current Chair of Council is the Councillor David McLachlan.[15]

Brisbane City Council has ten Standing Committees made up of and chaired by elected representatives. Each committee considers Council policies, provides advice to council and delivers results for the people of Brisbane. This includes a wide range of areas such as infrastructure, public transport and the environment. With the exception of the Establishment and Coordination Committee (also known as Civic Cabinet), the public are welcome to attend council and standing committee meetings.[16]

Since August 2021, the standing committees of Council include:

• Establishment and Coordination Committee (Civic Cabinet)
• City Planning and Suburban Renewal
• City Standards Committee
• Community, Arts and Nighttime Economy Committee
• Councillor Ethics Committee
• Economic Development and the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games Committee
• Environment, Parks and Sustainability Committee
• Finance and City Governance Committee
• Infrastructure Committee
• Transport Committee

Most standing committee meetings are held on Tuesday mornings while Council is in session.[16]

The chair of each standing committee is also a member of council’s Establishment and Coordination Committee, more commonly known as Civic Cabinet. At its highest level, Civic Cabinet sets the strategic direction for Brisbane as a city and council as an organisation. The Civic Cabinet has been delegated significant responsibility by full council. Civic Cabinet meets weekly to discuss policies and strategies in areas such as major projects, finance, urban planning, transport, environment, community services and city businesses.

It is in this way that Civic Cabinet sets the strategic direction for Brisbane as a city and for Brisbane City Council as an organisation. The members of Civic Cabinet review and make recommendations to full council on major plans such as council's vision, City Plan, corporate documents and city finances.[17]

Source:[17]

The following Councillors were appointed members of Civic Cabinet in August 2021:[18]

• Lord Mayor, Councillor Adrian Schrinner, City Treasurer and Chair of Civic Cabinet
• Deputy Mayor, Councillor Krista Adams, Civic Cabinet Chair for Economic Development and the Brisbane 2023 Olympic and Paralympic Games
• Councillor Adam Allan, Civic Cabinet Chair for City Planning and Suburban Renewal, Chair of the Councillor Ethics Committee
• Councillor Fiona Cunningham, Civic Cabinet Chair for Finance and City Governance
• Councillor Tracy Davis, Civic Cabinet Chair for Environment, Parks and Sustainability
• Councillor Vicki Howard, Civic Cabinet Chair for Community, Arts and Nighttime Economy
• Councillor Kim Marx, Civic Cabinet Chair for City Standards
• Councillor Ryan Murphy, Civic Cabinet Chair for Transport
• Councillor Andrew Wines, Civic Cabinet Chair for Infrastructure

The Lord Mayor is the Chair of Civic Cabinet. The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) acts as secretary of E&C, provides executive advice and reports back to Council as an organisation.[18]

Each Civic Cabinet Chair works alongside its relevant organisational divisions to "consider Council policy, provide advice to Council and delivers results for the people of Brisbane."[19]

Within Brisbane City Council, there are six different organisational divisions representing the core tasks of the council. Each division had its own Divisional Manager, who is accountable to the Council of Brisbane, the Civil Cabinet, and the CEO. As of February 2023, the six divisions and their divisional managers are:

• City Administration and Governance – Tim Wright
• Organisational Services – Anne Lenz
• City Planning and Sustainability – David Chick
• Lifestyle and Community Services – Tash Tobias
• Transport for Brisbane – Samantha Abeydeera
• Brisbane Infrastructure – Scott Stewart

These divisions are organisational, meaning that they're not subject to the changes in the elected administration nor are elected themselves.[20][21]

• 1823: John Oxley names the Brisbane River after Sir Thomas Brisbane, Governor of New South Wales from 1821 to 1825.[24][25]
• 1842–1880: Civilians start occupying Brisbane, making it the main site of commerce for the region.[24]
• 3 October 1859: The first elections for the Mayor of Brisbane are held, following the declaration of Brisbane as a local government municipality named after the river on which it sits. John Petrie was unanimously elected out of 37 candidates.[25]

• 1924: The Parliament of Queensland passes the City of Brisbane Act, creating a single city council for all the City of Brisbane, rather than the previous 20 various authorities and boards.[25]
• 1 October 1925: The new City Council is begins operation, under its first Mayor of Brisbane, William Jolly.[25]
• 8 April 1930: Governor of Queensland, John Goodwin officially opens the Brisbane City Hall.[25]
• 1939: Brisbane is made the headquarters of Allies of World War II in the South Pacific for Australian and American service personnel. The original offices are now part of the MacArthur Chambers.[24]
• 1982: Brisbane hosts the Commonwealth Games.[24]
• 1988: Brisbane hosts Expo 88, giving birth to South Bank Parklands, the now central cultural area of Brisbane and home of the Brisbane City Council head office.[24]

• 1 July 2010: The Legislative Assembly of Queensland passes the City of Brisbane Act 2010 as part of a state-wide review of local government legislation, formalising and consolidating state legislation about the City of Brisbane.[25]
• 2010–2013: Brisbane City Hall reopens after significant restoration and renovation.[25]
• November 2014: Brisbane hosts the G20 Leaders Summit.[24]