Meet the Mayor

Get to know Nicholas Reece, the 105th Lord Mayor of Melbourne.

On 19 November 2024, long-standing City of Melbourne councillor Nicholas Reece was sworn in as the 105th Lord Mayor of Melbourne, after emerging victorious from a hard-fought election campaign.

Elected as a Councillor in 2016, as Deputy Lord Mayor in late 2020, and as Lord Mayor for the first time in July 2024, Nick, as he likes to be known, brings a wealth of experience to his gig for the next four years.

“Being elected was the honour of my life and I’m going to spend this Council term building a better, fairer Melbourne for everyone. I am confident our best days are ahead of us. The 2020s are going to be great years for Melbourne,” said the newly sworn-in Lord Mayor.

Our new Lord Mayor is not only an experienced public servant. He has been active in the city as a lawyer, journalist, university leader, and as a driving force behind Movember and The Big Issue.

Nick’s immediate priorities are working with the new Councillor group to deliver on the basics of a cleaner, safer Melbourne and deliver cost of living relief for local residents.

That’s why, at their first Future Melbourne Committee meeting, Councillors approved a new Safety and Cleaning portfolio, a first for the City of Melbourne.

“I have always said I want to be a hands-on Lord Mayor, focused on delivery, delivery, delivery. We’re rolling up our sleeves and getting straight to work on the key priorities we heard from our community throughout the election campaign.

A safe, clean Melbourne is my most pressing focus as Lord Mayor.

I’ll also be reaching out to newly elected Mayors in our neighbouring Councils. I want to leverage the power of M9 to extend our standard of city cleaning into the suburbs. After all, we all benefit from a clean, welcoming Greater Melbourne,” said the Lord Mayor.

At the same meeting, the Committee made a splash by supporting in principle a trial of discounted pool entry on weekdays in January 2025, along with a free swimming lessons.

“By reducing the financial barrier to accessing our facilities we can ensure that everyone, regardless of their economic situation, will have the opportunity to cool off this summer” the Lord Mayor said.

To maintain this momentum, the Committee also endorsed the creation of a Delivery Unit, to focus on priority City of Melbourne projects.

“This unit will set clear, measurable goals and ensure that Councillor policies and City of Melbourne projects are effectively implemented.  It will monitor progress, break down barriers, and keep priority projects moving,” Nick said.

The Lord Mayor will also drive a major focus on city prosperity and activation.

In his first weeks, he launched both the 2024 Christmas Festival and announced the City of Melbourne’s massive plans for New Year’s Eve. These events brought more than 3 million people into the city, with  New Year’s boosting the local economy by an estimated $18 million.

Melbourne is now the biggest and fastest growing city in Australia. That means we are a city of possibility.

To ensure local businesses are set up to maximise their possibilities, the City of Melbourne’s boosted Business Concierge program will see a $1.6 million increase in frontline, personalised support for our traders – in the CBD and beyond.

“In my first 100 days I’m also committed to establishing a Melbourne 3000 advisory board of trusted, valued, and independent voices and to hosting a Melbourne 2050 Summit.

By 2031, Melbourne is set to deliver $130 billion Gross Local Product. More than 570,000 jobs. And more than 240,000 residents. We are setting up for success.”

If you ask the Lord Mayor what his favourite things are about Melbourne, one of the first things he will always say is that it’s possibly the most diverse, welcoming and friendly city in the world. So, he was very pleased to welcome 80 new citizens of 27 different nationalities at a citizenship ceremony a week after he was sworn in.

Citizenship ceremonies are particularly poignant for Nick, having moved to Australia from the UK in the 1980s. His wife, Felicity also moved here from Greece.

“New citizens and their families bring with them a multitude of cultures and traditions that are greatly valued in our multicultural society” the Lord Mayor said at the ceremony.

For the Lord Mayor, an important cornerstone of Melbourne’s inclusivity is ensuring we are doing what we can as a local government to care for the most vulnerable in our community.

So, opening Make Room was another particularly important day in Nick’s first few weeks. This landmark project, delivered in partnership with Unison Housing, the Victorian Government, philanthropic and corporate partners, provides 50 studio apartments with onsite support services for people experiencing homelessness.

“Make Room will help break the cycle of homelessness for our city’s most vulnerable. I am so proud that the City of Melbourne has stepped up to help end rough sleeping in this way.

Make Room not only provides accommodation, it’s designed to support, prepare, and transition people into sustainable long-term housing. This will truly be a game changer in many people’s lives,” said the Lord Mayor.

The Lord Mayor also volunteered for a shift at the Salvation Army’s Magpie Nest Cafe with his daughters the week before Christmas. It is something they do as a family on school holidays.

It’s been a busy start to the Lord Mayor’s term. And a busy end of term for his three daughters. Whilst their dad has been getting stuck into being the Lord Mayor, the girls have been getting stuck into exams, so it has been all go at the family home in Carlton.

“We are all looking forward to the summer break and then the opportunity ahead for 2025,” says Nick.