Brisbane City Council (BCC, also known as Council) is the local government of the City of Brisbane, the capital city of the Australian state of Queensland. The largest local government in Australia by population and area, BCC's jurisdiction includes 26 wards and 27 elected councillors covering 1,338 km2 (517 sq mi).[b][10][6] Council consists of the 26 councillors (elected or appointed to represent wards) and the Lord Mayor of Brisbane (currently Adrian Schrinner) (elected by the city as a whole). By resolution, Council may make local laws (previously known as ordinances). The Lord Mayor is responsible for the key executive functions of Council, such as implementing the policies of Council, preparing the budget and directing Council's senior employees. They are supported by the Civic Council (formally the Establishment and Coordination (E&C) Committee), whose members are drawn from Council and each chair one of Council's standing committees.[7] The council's current CEO is Colin Jensen, supported by EO Ainsley Gold.[8]
Strategy
Brisbane City Council is guided by two core future planning documents: Brisbane's Future Blueprint (infrastructure, cultural, and capital works projects), and Brisbane Vision 2031 (corporate and city planning). Council also does more frequent but smaller scale community consultations through the Your City Your Say platform.[11]
Brisbane Future Blueprint
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":[12]
Create a city of neighbourhoods
Protect and create greenspace
Create more to see and do
Protect the Brisbane backyard and our unique character
Ensure best practice design that complements the character of Brisbane
Empower and engage residents
Get people home quicker and safer with more travel options
Give people more choice when it comes to housing
Brisbane Vision 2031
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.[13]
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.[14] The current Lord Mayor of Brisbane is Adrian Schrinner of the Liberal National Party, supported by Krista Adams, the Deputy Mayor.[6][7]
Council of Brisbane
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.[10]
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]
Standing Committees
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]
Civic Cabinet
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]
Members of Civic Cabinet
The following councillors were appointed members of Civic Cabinet in April 2024:[17][18]
Lord Mayor, Councillor Adrian Schrinner, City Treasurer and Chair of Civic Cabinet
Deputy Mayor, Councillor Krista Adams, Civic Cabinet Chair for Economic Development, Nighttime Economy and the Brisbane 2032 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 and Arts
Councillor Sarah Hutton, 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]
Organisational divisions
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:
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]
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]
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]
2000s
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]
^ abcdefg"Council history". Brisbane City Council. 14 May 2019. Archived from the original on 31 May 2019. Retrieved 31 May 2020.
Notes
^A city Councillor that does not hold the Mayoralty, Deputy Mayoralty, a Civic Cabinet Chair position, Chair of Council, or Leader of the Opposition positions has the base salary of A$164,156 excluding allowances.[9]
^This is not to say that Brisbane itself is the largest city in Australia (which is Sydney). Most other cities have a "City of xyz Council" that only covers that city's CBD unlike Brisbane, which covers all surrounding suburbs. Hence, BCC had an abnormally large population count simply because the population lies within one city council area.
