Boost to pay packet for next Adelaide Lord Mayor
The next Adelaide Lord Mayor will win a pay packet tipping well over $200,000 as councillors across the state get a rise.
The next City of Adelaide Lord Mayor is set to get a boost to their pay packet, new Remuneration Tribunal documents reveal.
An annual allowance of $233,506 will be payable to the Lord Mayor from 2027, marking a near $20,000 pay rise from this year.
The council member and mayor allowances are set by the Remuneration Tribunal of South Australia on a four-yearly basis to coincide with the local government elections, with current Lord Mayor Jane Lomax-Smith earning $214,043 in 2025, according to City of Adelaide documents.
Next year’s Adelaide Council election in April is set to be hotly contested between current Lord Mayor Lomax-Smith and ex-councillor Henry Davis, who resigned from his seat on the Adelaide City Council in June to take a tilt at the top job.
Despite the pay rise, the Adelaide Lord Mayor allowance remains far behind those in the east of Australia, with Lord Mayor of Sydney, Clover Moore, receiving a salary of approximately $312,000 per year and the Lord Mayor of Melbourne Nick Reece earning approximately $302,881.
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The Lord Mayor will earn upwards of $100,000 from the next highest paid tier of mayors who will also see a significant pay boost.
Charles Sturt Mayor Angela Evans allowance in 2025 came to $112,952, but under the Remuneration Tribunal’s new arrangement would receive an estimated $128,288 per year.
Adelaide City Councillors can also expect a pay rise under the Remuneration Tribunal’s latest announcement, taking their annual allowances to $34,394.
In the report, the tribunal “has retained the existing and unique multiplier approach to set the allowance for the Deputy Lord Mayor of the City of Adelaide” which is 1.25 times the council allowance at $42,992 per year.
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The new allowances will come into effect following the conclusion of the local government elections that have been deferred from November 2026 to April 2027.
Council elections were delayed earlier this year to to prevent a repeat of the state election’s troubles that included inadequate polling booth staff and computer malfunctions.
The Remuneration Tribunal has divided the councils into six tiers, with the amounts councillors receive dependent on which tier they are in.
Councillors in tier B including City of Onkaparinga, Charles Sturt, and Port Adelaide Enfield will receive $32,072, increasing from $25,838 set by the Remuneration Tribunal in 2022.
Councillors in the third highest tier including Adelaide Hills and Norwood, Payneham and St Peters will take home a $25,242 pay packet, while councillors in the next tier, including Kangaroo Island and Port Lincoln, will receive $20,902.
The tribunal report found that the lowest allowances in 2022, including The Flinders Ranges and Southern Mallee District Councils, were “inadequate”.
“The quantum of these lower allowances was insufficient to sustainably attract and retain Councillors and simultaneously improve the diversity of the cohort,” the report said.
“These lower allowances need to be substantially increased in percentage terms from a very low base position.”
Pay packets in the lowest tier councils have increased from $7,192 in 2022 to $13,371 from 2026.
The tribunal will also consider establishing a “Major Emergency and Disaster Allowance” for the Mayor of a council impacted by a major emergency or disaster declaration, including areas impacted by catastrophic bushfires, severe floods, or destructive storms.
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