Sylvie Ellsmore

I joined the City of Sydney Council in 2021 and was elected by my fellow Councillors as Deputy Mayor in September 2022. I am a founding member and Chair of the City of Sydney’s new Housing for All Working Group and Deputy Chair of the City’s Housing for All Committee.

I love Sydney, but we’re facing big challenges. Our city has become less equal and we’re heading towards a climate emergency.

The Green’s vision for Sydney is a city for everyone, with a local Council that takes bold action on climate in partnership with the community.

During my time as Councillor and Deputy Mayor, the Greens have won free community hall hire for community groups, increased developer contributions for affordable housing, campaigned against anti-protest laws and police intimidation, pushed the city to ban fossil fuel advertising, supported community campaigns against public housing sell-offs and for renters rights, exposed special deals made to benefit Star Casino,  held the first Trans and Gender Diverse Swim Day (the first of many), protected our public parks and made it easier to reclaim out streets for community street parties.

But there’s still more to do.

Sydney is one of the most expensive cities in the world. We need a Council that does more to ensure our city is affordable and accessible for everyone.

The Greens understand that housing is a human right. Our ambitious $200 million Sydney Co-Investment Strategy will radically expand tenant-led, secure, affordable housing. Read our costed plan here.

We also need a more grassroots and transparent Council, which allows community members to speak at Council meetings and works in genuine partnership with the community in their campaigns to protect public land. We need to expand public and student housing in the city, push back against environmentally damaging projects like synthetic turf, expand Wi-Fi in public spaces and roll out food and garden organics (FOGO) to the whole community.

More about our vision is below

More about me: I’m a community organiser, a researcher and a feminist living on Gadigal Country, in inner-city Sydney.

I have worked with environmental organisations, unions and Aboriginal groups, coordinating anti-racism and environmental justice campaigns, and winning legal protections for cultural heritage and native title. I represented Newtown as a Local Councillor on Marrickville Council (2012-2016).

I am a volunteer karate teacher at Jin Sei Ryu Karate Do (Darlington) and a founding member of the Redfern, Eveleigh, Darlington, Waterloo Watch (REDWatch) residents’ action group.