Your City of Sydney Greens Team

Councillor Sylvie Ellsmore

Hi, I’m Sylvie. I’m a Greens Councillor and former Deputy Mayor. I was first elected to the City of Sydney Council in 2021. 

I’m passionate about making our city more affordable, liveable and inclusive. With the housing crisis driving so much inequality in our city, I am deeply committed to strengthening the Council’s work to protect and expand public, affordable and community housing.

I’m the founding Co-Chair of the City of Sydney’s Housing for All Advisory Panel, the Deputy Chair of the Community Services and Facilities Committee, a member of Council’s Multicultural Advisory Panel. I am a part-time karate teacher at Jin Sei Ryu Karate Do (Darlington).

Before joining the City of Sydney Council I was a native title lawyer and community organiser. I have managed not for profit organisations and worked as a senior policy advisor for the NSW Government, NSW Aboriginal Land Council and the Sydney Policy Lab (University of Sydney).

I previously represented Newtown as a Local Councillor on Marrickville Council (2012-2016), where I founded the Council’s Affordable Housing Advisory Committee, chaired the Cycling Committee and helped deliver the award-winning Marrickville library development. 

I am passionate about communities working together to raise their voices for change. I have worked with residents to form the Redfern, Eveleigh, Darlington, Waterloo Watch (REDWatch) residents’ action group

Over the last term on Council, I helped stop the sell-off of public housing, passed planning rules to protect homes from being demolished and replaced with luxury apartments, and secured funding for a housing cooperative for trans women, an Australian first.

Working alongside community and local activists I was instrumental in banning gas from new developments, in repealing the undemocratic ‘two council votes for businesses’ law, making council venue hire free for community groups, and more. 

Follow our work on Council here!

I have researched, presented and published on public and affordable housing and culture heritage. I am currently completing a Masters of Economics (part-time) at the University of Sydney.

Follow me on Instagram, FaceBook or LinkedIn. 

You can get in touch at our joint Greens Councillor office, at Sydney Town Hall, via email at [email protected] or by phone on 0439 300 150.

 

Councillor Matthew Thompson

Hi, I’m Matthew. I was elected to the City of Sydney Council in 2024.

 As part of your Greens team on Council, I am helping lead our work on environmental sustainability, inequality, protest rights and more. Imagine a Sydney where everyone has a house to call home. Where everything you need to live a good life is affordable and accessible. That's the city I'm fighting for.

My first memories of when I moved to Glebe are of cold nights where I had to decide whether to pay my rent or put food on the table. Where I juggled multiple jobs, waiting tables, washing dishes, cleaning homes, just to keep the lights on. And while those experiences for me are now in the past, for far too many in Sydney they are an ongoing reality.

It’s never been harder to get by in Sydney, rents are soaring and the cost of everyday essentials like groceries, transport and medicine keep going up. I believe it is the job of the government to use every tool available to make life in our city easier.

That’s why since becoming one of your Councillors I’ve fought to make Sydney a City that delivers affordable and accessible housing. Over the last term on Council, I’ve campaigned for Council-build rent-controlled public housing, to cap AirBNBs and return thousands of inner-city homes as secure, long-term rentals, to make Council services like our childcare and pools more affordable and increase the wages of our essential workers.

Follow our work on Council here!

Follow me on Instagram, Facebook or TikTok. 

You can get in contact me at our joint Greens Councillor office via email at [email protected].