Media centre
Read the City of Melbourne’s media protocols and find contact details for media advisers and weekend media enquiries.
Please note that all media requests for the Lord Mayor and councillors should be directed to the relevant media adviser.
The City of Melbourne is unable to facilitate interviews or media requests from students. Information for school or university assignments must be sourced from our website.
Media releases
New partnership to help businesses go global
Business owners in the City of Melbourne will have new opportunities to explore international markets thanks to an expansion in the Council’s Invest Melbourne team.
New tool to combat rising temperatures in city
The City of Melbourne will develop an innovative new tool to map heat hazards and strengthen responses to extreme heat events.
YIRRAMBOI to showcase First Nations creatives
Australia’s premier First Nation’s festival YIRRAMBOI is back, with a program of spectacular performances, innovative commissions and world premieres.
Better parking to keep Melbourne moving
The City of Melbourne will make parking in the city simpler and fairer – with a new plan to keep spaces turning over, boost business and make finding a park easier for those who need it. The community is being invited to review the draft Parking and Kerbside Management Plan, and to have their say...
More remarkable Victorian women to be honoured
The City of Melbourne is taking action to address the gender imbalance in the city’s statues, calling for public nominations for remarkable Victorian women to be commemorated. Only nine of the city’s 580 statues in the city depict and celebrate women from Melbourne’s history –...
Strong return of office workers to Melbourne’s CBD
More city workers are returning to their Melbourne offices more often, with new data showing a significant increase in workplace attendance over the past 12 months. An independent survey commissioned by the City of Melbourne found 88 per cent of respondents attended their workplace at least once...
Better, brighter, greener new buildings in Melbourne
The City of Melbourne will take bold action to raise the planning standards for environmentally sustainable design – with stronger energy efficiency standards, green rooftops, vertical gardens and solar panels set to transform Melbourne’s skyline. The Sustainable Building Design Amendment will...
New Melbourne Clean Team to target city hotspots
A new specialist cleaning workforce will hit the streets next month, as part of the City of Melbourne’s commitment to deliver a cleaner and safer city – targeting the CBD’s busiest and most popular precincts. For the next three months, the Clean Team will be on duty 12 hours a day, seven days a...
Melbourne welcomes international students with open arms
The City of Melbourne is dedicated to being Australia’s number one city for student experience and will this week welcome back international students with free tickets to iconic events, employment seminars and welcome sessions as university O-Week brings hundreds of thousands of students into the...
Taking green waste service to new heights
In an Australian-first, the City of Melbourne has introduced its Food Organics and Garden Organics (FOGO) collection service in high-rise apartment buildings.
All singing, all dancing Moomba Monarchs
Australian musical theatre royalty, Rob Mills and Rhonda Burchmore, have been crowned the 2023 Moomba Festival Monarchs.
New tool to help city traders adapt and grow
Wednesday 1 February 2023 The City of Melbourne is empowering traders through the launch of a new seasonal economic activity guide that will provide localised data and insights to support business planning as the city sets a new pace. The Melbourne Economy Snapshot will reveal where and when...
Media contacts
General media enquiries: media@melbourne.vic.gov.au
Weekend on-call number: 03 9658 8736
Media team contacts are for legitimate media queries only. For all other queries, please visit the City of Melbourne Contact Us page.
Media staff
Sallese Gibson, Media Manager
Email: sallese.gibson@melbourne.vic.gov.au
Tel: 0479 179 468
Portfolio responsibilities
- Queen Victoria Market Precinct Renewal
- Invest Melbourne
- Rates and valuations
- Emergency Management
- Council budget / reporting
- Council elections, policy, governance
- Firelight Festival
- Melbourne City Recovery Fund
- Melbourne City Revitalisation Fund
Patrick Phillips, Senior Media Advisor
Email: patrick.phillips@melbourne.vic.gov.au
Tel: 0427 723 437
Portfolio responsibilities
- Major infrastructure projects, including Greenline
- Capital works and city design
- Transport, including parking and cycling
- Property and council real estate
- Planning and heritage
- Building and construction
- International students
Tom Whitty, Senior Media Advisor
Email: tom.whitty@melbourne.vic.gov.au
Tel: 0481 064 023
Portfolio responsibilities
- Graffiti and cleaning
- Rough sleeping and homelessness
- City safety and security
- Arts and culture
- Business support
- Small business, retail and hospitality
- Christmas Festival
- New Year’s Eve
Maddie Kellaway, Media Advisor
Email: maddison.kellaway@melbourne.vic.gov.au
Tel: 0403 984 481
Portfolio responsibilities
- Health and wellbeing
- Children and family services
- Environment, including trees, parks and water
- Sustainable building
- Precinct activations
- Community and recreation
- Waste and recycling
- Smart cities, data and innovation
- Melbourne Fashion Week
- Moomba
- Aboriginal Melbourne
Hannah Lewon, External Communications Officer
Email: hannah.lewon@melbourne.vic.gov.au
Tel: 0468 675 991
Portfolio responsibilities
- Libraries
- Grant programs and sponsorship
- Busking and street entertainment
- Pedestrian data
- Tourism
- Night-time economy
- Animal management (domestic)
- Melbourne Awards
- Lord Mayor’s Small Business Awards
Kosta Pandos, (Acting) Head of External Communications
Email: kosta.pandos@melbourne.vic.gov.au
Tel: 0481 099 298
