Cr Nuatali Nelmes

Director - Rural/Regional
City of Newcastle

Lord Mayor Councillor Nuatali Nelmes is the 14th Lord Mayor of Newcastle.

She has served for seven years, returning for a third consecutive term as the Lord Mayor of Newcastle following a general election held on 4 December 2021.

Cr Nelmes holds a Bachelor of Business with a double major in Industrial Relations/Human Resource Management and Marketing from the University of Newcastle, and is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and the Harvard Bloomberg Leadership Initiative. She worked in small business and recruitment before being elected to council in 2008.

During her time as councillor she also worked on community climate adaptions programs with the United Workers Union. Cr Nelmes has continued to build on her first-term success, which delivered progressive financial sustainability while protecting local jobs and services, creating momentum for positive change through consistent hard work, stability and collaboration.

Cr Nelmes represents Newcastle on ICLEI (Local Government for sustainability) Oceania Regional Executive Committee and its chair of the Global Covenant of Mayors Oceania committee. Statewide, Cr Nelmes was also elected as a regional director for Local Government NSW in December 2021. Regionally, Cr Nelmes is Chair of the Hunter Joint Organisation Standing Committee for the Greater Newcastle Metropolitan Plan Implementation and is a Board Member for Newcastle Airport, Greater Newcastle Aerotropolis and associated partnership boards.

Cr Nelmes is also chair of City of Newcastle’s Asset Advisory Committee and previously served on the Board of the Hunter Westpac Rescue Helicopter for four years as well as on the Board of Northern Settlement Services and the Hunter Writers Centre.

The Lord Mayor is only the second female Lord Mayor of Newcastle after popular 1970s-era mayor Joy Cummings, and she is the youngest Lord Mayor of Newcastle. Cr Nelmes was raised and educated in Newcastle, is married with three children and has enjoyed a representative sporting career in basketball.

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