Lord Mayor

Dr Ross Kerridge

Contact Details

Lord Mayor's Office
City Administration Centre,
12 Stewart Avenue, Newcastle West
PO Box 489, Newcastle NSW 2300

Email: lordmayoroffice@ncc.nsw.gov.au

Contact: +61249742000

For events and meeting requests, please complete this form and the Lord Mayor's Office will get back to you.

For media enquires, please contact media@ncc.nsw.gov.au. 

Lord Mayor's Biography

Dr Ross Kerridge became the 15th Lord Mayor of Newcastle in October 2024.

Ross was born and bred in Newcastle. Both his parents were active citizens who strongly believed that everyone had an obligation to improve our community. Ross shares these values.

He attended Newcastle Boys High School and after graduating worked at the BHP steelworks as a labourer, as did many of his school mates.

Ross went on to study medicine at Sydney University and after initially working in General Practice and Indigenous Health in Central Australia, he specialised as an Anaesthetist, training in Sydney, London and Canada.

Prior to becoming Lord Mayor, Ross worked for many years as a Senior Specialist Anaesthetist at the John Hunter Hospital. He teaches medical students as an Associate Professor at the University of Newcastle and is involved in the Hunter Medical Research Institute (HMRI).

During his medical career, Ross was involved in a number of changes to improve safety, efficiency and quality of care in hospitals and health care. He was a strong advocate for and recognised leader in the development of Perioperative Medicine across the globe.

Away from medicine, community involvement has always been a large part of Ross’ life.  He believes communities are at their best when there is broad respect and tolerance of our differences, where everyone contributes as actively as they can, and where everyone is valued as a member of the community.

Ross believes the community is a sounding board, which can provide an indication to elected representatives if there are problems or concerns in the community.

Ross recognises that Newcastle has a long, rich and complex heritage. He enjoys walking around the various parts of Newcastle, meeting members of the community and hearing their stories and hopes for the future. He believes this provides an opportunity for all involved to reflect on how the city has changed over the years and consider its great achievements, the happy and sad times of the past, learn lessons, and make plans for the future.

Ross and his wife Marion have two children and recently became grandparents. 

Role of the Mayor

Publication of the Lord Mayor's Diary

City of Newcastle is committed to openness and transparency through its Open and Transparent Governance Strategy.

As part of this commitment, we will publish a summary of the Lord Mayor's diary on its website on a quarterly basis, including:

  • Details of the organisation
  • Group or category of person(s) attending the meeting
  • The date and purpose of meetings.

The summary will not include:

  • Individuals names
  • Internal meetings with staff or Councillors
  • Meetings of a personal nature.

View the Lord Mayor's Diary