In a significant moment for LGBTIQA+ representation, four queer people have been elected as councillors to the City of Sydney Council.
Adam Worling from the Clover Moore Independent Team, along with Mitch Wilson and Zann Maxwell from the Labor Party, and Matthew Thompson from the Greens, will play key roles in shaping the city’s future.
Collectively, they make up 40 per cent of the new council and are united in their commitment to addressing key issues such as inclusivity, affordability, and preserving Sydney’s vibrant cultural spaces.
Their presence is particularly notable given that the City of Sydney’s 2018 Community Wellbeing Survey found that 21.3 per cent of respondents identified as part of the LGBTIQA+ community.
In interviews with Gay Sydney News after they were officially declared elected by the electoral commission, all four councillors expressed their commitment not only to LGBTQIA+ issues but to broader citywide challenges, with shared goals of inclusivity, affordability, and cultural preservation.
Maxwell was nominated as deputy lord mayor by Lord Mayor Clover Moore and confirmed in the role on Thursday after securing support from his fellow councillors. He expressed his gratitude and eagerness for the role.
“I feel honoured to be elected deputy lord mayor of this truly special city, and I’m excited for this chance to serve the community and contribute to its future,” he said.
Adam Worling
Adam Worling, a public relations specialist, is returning for a second term after a previous 16-month stint and expressed excitement about collaborating with the other queer councillors.
“The City of Sydney has a long history of queer representation going back to the 1980s, but I don’t think we’ve ever had four LGBTI councillors at once out of the ten councillors,” he said.
Worling is focused on tackling the cost-of-living crisis, particularly how it impacts nightlife and dining out.
He said the cost of living was affecting everyone, especially when it comes to the cost of food. “After going out for a meal recently, I found myself thinking, “That’s it, I’m not doing this anymore’,” he said.
“It’s just too expensive.”
Despite rising costs, Worling remains optimistic about Sydney’s nightlife.
“Some people say nightlife isn’t strong anymore,” he said. “I think it is very strong.” He noted that outdoor areas like Crown Street in Surry Hills and spots in Newtown are especially vibrant on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays.
However, Worling criticised both state and federal governments for inaction on housing, calling them “asleep at the wheel.” He pointed to the City of Sydney’s affordable housing projects, like Green Square, as examples of efforts to address the crisis.
Worling is also looking forward to the development of new businesses on Oxford Street, despite delays, and highlighted the importance of initiatives like the rainbow crossing at Taylor Square to promote inclusivity.
Mitch Wilson
Mitch Wilson, who identifies as trans non-binary and is the managing director of the Australian Festival Association, welcomed the increased queer representation on the council.
“It’s going be nice to have a sizable group of us on the new council,” Wilson, who uses they/them pronouns, said.
“I think we’re quite aligned on wanting to do more for the queer community in the city and just committed to really working together to do whatever we can from the city’s side and using the levers available to us.”
Wilson emphasised the importance of safety in queer spaces, especially on Oxford Street, and voiced concerns about the proliferation of straight venues in the area.
“The community has to stay vigilant to ensure that the hard-fought wins are maintained and safety’s there and that we do have spaces to come together [to] be able to build community.”
Wilson is advocating for the creation of a new LGBTQIA+ advisory group at council and expressed hope that the city would take a stronger role in supporting Sydney MP Alex Greenwich’s Equality Bill. They also want the city to monitor the state government’s implementation of recommendations from the Special Commission of Inquiry into LGBTIQ hate crimes.
Wilson acknowledged the ongoing debate about police participation in the Sydney Mardi Gras march and said that the city cannot stay silent on the issue, given its sponsorship of the event.
“I don’t think we can just take a backseat in that conversation; it’s inevitably going to come up,” they said.
However, Wilson, who is a Mardi Gras member, said that they wouldn’t use the city’s sponsorship to influence Mardi Gras decisions.
Zann Maxwell
Zann Maxwell, who manages corporate affairs for disability services provider HireUp and will serve as deputy lord mayor, expressed concern about how the affordability crisis is impacting Sydney’s queer community.
“What makes our communities so fun, interesting and vibrant is the diversity,” he said. “I’m really concerned … that the affordability crisis is suffocating that.
“It’s building divides along affordability lines, making it more and more so that only certain types of people can live in areas that used to thrive so much because of their diversity.”
Maxwell’s top priority is ensuring that Sydney remains a place where everyone, regardless of financial situation, can live and thrive.
He emphasised the need for collaboration on the council, noting that Clover Moore’s team no longer holds a majority, which will require more discussion and co-operation across different groups.
“If the lord mayor and the Clover team want to progress any particular policy initiatives, they’ll have to have the agreement of some of the other groups on the council,” he said. “That will mean more collaboration, more discussion and different kinds of ideas will have the opportunity to be ventilated.
“I think that’s a good thing for local government.”
Maxwell is pushing for Oxford Street to be designated as a “special entertainment precinct” to help nightlife thrive by allowing venues to stay open later and making it easier to host live performances.
“We will continue to push on that,” he said. Among other aspecta, the designation is about tightening the rules around noise complaints “so that one grouchy neighbour can’t close down a venue”, Maxwell explained.
Matthew Thompson
Matthew Thompson, a 31-year-old community services worker, environmental science student at UTS, and queer activist, holds the distinction of being the youngest councillor. Representing the Greens, Thompson sees his role as a platform for advocating for people traditionally left out of political conversations.
“People with my experiences, historically, haven’t got elected,” Thompson said. “We need more people with experiences of poverty and housing insecurity to be part of decision-making.”
Thompson believes his background, including personal experiences with housing insecurity, equips him to push for more affordable housing in the city. He criticised the council for not doing enough to leverage its financial power to address the housing crisis.
“The City of Sydney has about $800 million in unreserved funding that could be used to build rent-capped, accessible homes for vulnerable people, low-income families, and essential workers,” he said. “It could do that tomorrow.”
Thompson is advocating bold action to preserve Oxford Street’s queer identity while supporting smaller, grassroots cultural institutions.
He has proposed bringing core services, like garbage collection, back under council control – an idea supported by several other councillors. Additionally, he wants the council to operate more childcare centres to help reduce costs for families.
Thompson is also pushing to make the city’s pools free during summer, which would require returning their management to the council, as they are currently run by a private company.
Editor’s note: This article was written by Ben Grubb, who pays a $50 annual Mardi Gras membership for discount purposes only and doesn’t vote in the annual general meetings.
Gay Sydney News editor