Council, explained

What does a Lord Mayor do?

It is one of the most asked, and least answered, questions at a local election. Here is a clear, plain-English guide to who does what at the City of Hobart, so your vote in October 2026 goes exactly where you want it to.

The basics

Three roles people mix up

Local government has three distinct jobs that often get blurred into one. Knowing the difference is the difference between a confident vote and a guess. Here they are, in plain terms.

The civic leader

The Lord Mayor

Leads the council table and speaks for the city, with one vote like everyone else.

The Lord Mayor chairs council meetings, keeping them orderly and moving. They are Hobart’s civic and ceremonial leader and its main spokesperson: the public face of the city at events, in the media, and when Hobart welcomes visitors. They work closely with the councillors and with the council’s chief executive to keep things running well.

On the actual decisions, the Lord Mayor has one vote, the same as every other elected member. There is no casting vote. If a vote is tied, the motion does not pass. So the Lord Mayor leads the conversation and sets the tone, but cannot decide matters alone.

On their own, they can

Chair meetings and guide the agenda
Represent Hobart as its spokesperson
Bring people together behind a direction

On their own, they cannot

Pass a budget or set the rates
Change a council policy
Overrule the councillors

Each of those is a decision of the whole council, not the Lord Mayor alone.

The elected body

The Councillors

The elected team that decides Hobart’s strategy, budget and policies, together.

Alongside the Lord Mayor and a Deputy Lord Mayor, Hobart elects a group of councillors. For the October 2026 election that number is nine, reduced from twelve under recent state reforms. Together, these elected members are the council’s decision-making body. They set its strategic direction, approve the budget, decide its policies, and act as the planning authority for the city.

Many Hobartians still call them aldermen, an older title the city used for years. The current official term is councillor, and it is the one you will see on your ballot paper.

Decisions are made by the group, by majority. The Lord Mayor leads this table but does not outvote it. That is why the councillors you choose matter just as much as who leads them.

The administration

The Council CEO

The paid administrator who runs the organisation and carries out what the elected members decide. Not elected.

The council also has a chief executive, the role the Local Government Act calls the general manager. This person is not elected. They are appointed by the councillors to run the organisation day to day: managing staff, delivering services, and putting the elected members’ decisions into practice. The chief executive is, in fact, the only person the council itself employs; they in turn hire and manage everyone else who works for the city.

The separation is deliberate. Elected members set the direction and answer to you at the ballot box. The chief executive and staff carry that direction out professionally and consistently, whoever holds office. It keeps politics and day-to-day administration in their own lanes, and it is a big part of why councils stay steady between elections.

So when you vote

You are choosing the whole table, not just the head of it

When your ballot pack arrives, you are not only picking a Lord Mayor. You are choosing the Deputy Lord Mayor and the councillors around the table too: the team that will set Hobart’s budget and priorities together. Your pack has a separate ballot paper for each, so every one of them counts. A Lord Mayor can lead, but the numbers still have to add up.

Hobart’s council elections are run by the Tasmanian Electoral Commission and, for the City of Hobart, held entirely by post in October 2026. There are no polling booths; your ballot pack comes to you. For the official timetable and key dates, check the TEC closer to the election.

How to vote in Hobart

Keep exploring

A calm, steady hand for the whole table

Understanding these roles is the first step to a confident vote. Louise is standing for Lord Mayor to bring a calm, steady and financially-literate hand to the council table, and to work well with the councillors around it.

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