Lords of cool: Past competition finalists (L to R) Rachel Arnold, Jacqui O'Donnell, Daniel Papadopoulos (front), Sophie Peters (Junior Mayor 2019), Scarlett Sadler and Zara Wilson.
Junior Lord Mayor Leonie Chen
with thanks to 
Don't stop improving, Melbourne. That's the call from new Junior Lord Mayor Leonie Chen.
The Kensington Primary School student edged out a strong field of finalists to win the gold chains.
Her Worship's big-ticket policy? A fairer, inclusive and safer community.
"My idea is to stop racism, sexism and have a city with more equal rights and greater accessibility for people with disabilities," Leonie says.
Judging ceremony: (L to R) Peter Hitchener, Simon Purssey, Denis Walter, Junior Lord Mayor Leonie Chen, Aunty Janet Galpin and Lord Mayor Sally Capp
Melbourne is there for each other
We need to continuously improve for Melbourne to reclaim its No 1 World's Most Liveable City title, she says.
"How to improve Melbourne is by raising awareness in equal rights because many people don't have the same privileges as we do.
"The thing I love the most about Melbourne is how everyone is there for each other, because everyone steps in during our most vulnerable times."
Leonie, 12, was chosen the big little boss at a judging ceremony at Melbourne Town Hall.
She holds the ceremonial title for a year: rocking mayoral robes and gold chains, marching with competition finalists in the Moomba Parade, performing official and fun duties with Lord Mayor Sally Capp and more!
Lord Mayor Sally Capp praised the calibre of finalists, the maturity and relevance of issues they pitched to improve Melbourne.
Finalists: (L to R) Shraavani Ellinavaalu, Lord Mayor Sally Capp, Olivia Sadler, 13cabs' Simon Purssey (judge), Elan Meyer, Grace Walter, 2022 Junior Lord Mayor Leonie Chen
Congratulations also to finalists:
- Olivia Sadler, 11, Albert Park Primary School
- Grace Walter, 12, Loreto Mandeville Hall, Toorak
- Elan Meyer, 12, Port Melbourne Primary School
- Shraavani Ellinavaalu, 11, St Peter Apostle Primary School, Hoppers Crossing.
Thank you to everyone who entered. Thanks also to teachers and parents for encouraging students to enter.
A milestone
Now in its 10th year, the competition aims to raise awareness about Melbourne and our city's Aboriginal history and culture — and instil civic pride by highlighting our journey since being founded on 30 August 1835.
The judging panel
- Lord Mayor Sally Capp
- Channel Nine newsreader Peter Hitchener
- Radio 3AW presenter Denis Walter
- Aunty Janet Galpin Boon Wurrung Elder
- 13cabs head of client services Simon Purssey
It's such an important program for helping people understand how the city works.
– Lord Mayor Sally Capp
Boss squad revving Moomba
It's just one of the cool and fun activities you can win — and awesome swag!
From several competition finalists one becomes the Junior Lord Mayor winner.
Lords of cool Honour Roll
How cool is the Junior Lord Mayor Competition?
Winners tell of the exciting experience (even in COVID lockdown)
WIN $250 cash prizes!
Support the Junior Lord Mayor program, download the 13cabs app
Thanks to our Junior Lord Mayor Competition partner, 13cabs, we're giving away $250 cash prizes.
Use promo code JLM21 when you download the 13cabs app from the Google Play or Apple App Store (iTunes) for your chance to win.
It helps support the program, now in its 10th year.
Two $250 cash prizes are up for grabs.
Teachers, hold your best class
The resources and ideas below can be used in classrooms, child care centres, kindergartens — and by parents at home.
Gilbert and the Guardians of Melbourne e-book — learn who founded Melbourne
Free education resource: purr-fect for classrooms
Ideal for students in Years 3 to 6
Primary school students will love learning about their city through the eyes of Gilbert, Melbourne's first cat — the Tassie tabby who arrived on the Enterprize with the first settlers.
Gilbert and the Guardians of Melbourne tells the story of Melbourne, including Aboriginal history, via a series of city "guardians", or historical landmarks, representing culture, industry, events and other elements that have shaped Melbourne.
Gilbert takes you on a captivating journey, explaining in a fun and engaging way the story of how Melbourne started.
- Suitable for use by students in Years 3 to 6
- Features activities to get students thinking and embracing history
- Comes with a separate Education Kit support guide (see below) — for teachers to get in classrooms the most out of the e-book.
Developed by Dr Jo Clyne at History Teachers' Association of Victoria Opens in new window and Melbourne Day Committee, the colourful e-book is ideal as a teaching aide and an activity for parents to use at home — to bring to life the Melbourne story, and capture students' imaginations about history.
Or read Gilbert and the Guardians of Melbourne in your browser as a flipbook.
Education Kit — support guide for the Gilbert e-book
Bring to life the Melbourne story and captivate students about history
Why teachers should use Gilbert and the Guardians e-book
Author and historian Dr Jo Clyne explains why the resource has impact in classrooms.
"The book encourages students to think about historical perspectives and how much Melbourne has changed over time," Dr Clyne tells Agora, the HTAV's quarterly magazine.
Bringing Melbourne Day to you
Book your FREE school incursion
Our experts visit schools to talk about the city's founding, the Junior Lord Mayor Competition, how students can get involved, and more!
Get all your students' questions answered. Incursions are free thanks to Melbourne Day Committee's schools education program funded by our supporters. And visits are tailored for different age groups.
Education resources
State Library of Victoria
Learn what life was like in colonial Melbourne, from people who were there.
Discover Melbourne's criminal past, the history of Victoria's changing landscape, political events, gold rushes and the impact of the World Wars.
All this and more is available at the state library's terrific Ergo website, designed with special sections for students and teachers.
The changing face of Victoria exhibition — new virtual tour
The library's The changing face of Victoria free and permanent exhibition brings together more than 220 fascinating historical artefacts, photographs, drawings, maps, letters and diaries to tell the stories of the people, places and events that have shaped life in Victoria.
Free guided tours are available for schools.
Items on regular display include key artifacts such as the Batman Deeds, the last notes of Burke and Wills and Ned Kelly's armour.
Discover also the colourful story of jam making in 19th-century Marvellous Melbourne, see early photographs of the Princess Theatre, and learn about the often-forgotten role of women on the goldfields.
Located in the library's Dome Galleries Level 5, the exhibition is open Friday to Wednesday 10am to 6pm, and Thursday 10am to 9pm, except for public holidays.
See the new virtual tour
The exhibition has been transformed into a virtual tour to explore online. Discover more than 150 objects, artworks and photographs that reveal the large and small ways we can all make a difference in shaping our world. 90 per cent of these collection items have never been exhibited before.
Also, discover the people and events that shaped Victoria's colonial history in the library's "Colonisation" online gallery, including:
- Objects from early European contact and settlement
- Documents and illustrations by early colonists
- The establishment of the city of Melbourne.
Keep Melbourne Marvellous!
Why Melbourne is marvellous, what you can do to keep Melbourne marvellous and more.
Did you know?
The Gold Rush in Victoria made Melbourne the richest, fastest-growing city in the world during the 1880s — earning us the enduring moniker Marvellous Melbourne.
Melbourne Town Hall tours
Free tours of Melbourne's historic Town Hall are available weekdays and give visitors the chance to learn about the architectural, social and political significance of this impressive 19th century building.
Experience the grandeur of the wood-panelled Council Chamber, stand on the portico where the Beatles waved, sit in the Lord Mayor's chair and view the richly-carved Melbourne Town Hall Grand Organ, the largest grand romantic organ in the southern hemisphere.
Eureka Skydeck 88
Education with altitude! Eureka Skydeck 88 offers school trips to the highest classroom in the southern hemisphere.
The landmark offers a host of educational activities and fascinating facts from the interactive displays on offer.
An education co-ordinator can help plan the specific learning needs of your students.
Yikes! Ghosts in Flagstaff Gardens?
Things that go bump in the bushes — and more secrets
Hear spoooooky ghost stories about the gardens' past as a cemetery, its crucial yet forgotten role in shaping Melbourne as a signalling station and more on this guided tour by Royal Historical Society of Victoria experts. If you dare!
Learn also Flagstaff Hill's place in Melbourne’s topography, pre-European history and its fascinating role as a magnetic and meteorological observatory.
It's an absolute "must do" for understanding the history and character of Melbourne.
Hidden Secrets Tours
Special, discounted Melbourne Day tours are available. Discover the city many locals miss with the award-winning Hidden Secrets Tours.
School tours available, too.
Melbourne's tall ship Enterprize
Re-live Melbourne's maritime history aboard the much-loved Enterprize. Sail Victoria Harbour and learn about the ship's role in Melbourne's founding.
The Enterprize is the focal point of the spectacular Melbourne Regatta, held annually during Melbourne Day week.
Few class excursions are as exciting and engaging as setting sail on the Enterprize.
Metro Trains' education program
Metro’s Dumb Ways to Die Opens in new window is a highly-acclaimed and award-winning "be safe around trains" awareness program.
Metro also has experts who come to your school and community group to talk about safety, travel and trains.
Our Victorian Stories: inquiry units
State Library of Victoria's early Melbourne and Victoria teaching and learning resources are supported by a range of activities.
The Colonial Victoria: online history excursionOpens in new window explores the historical significance of places, people and ideas in Victoria.
Making of Melbourne resource kit
Who "founded" Melbourne? (PDF), part of The Making of Melbourne resource kit, was produced especially for schools by the City of Melbourne and Melbourne Day Committee.
It includes a teachers' guide, student materials and activity sheets to bring to life the story of how Melbourne started.
Melbourne Museum's The Melbourne Story
The exhibition features more than 1200 objects from Museum Victoria’s collection, making it the most complete and object-rich exhibition about Melbourne ever staged.
Come nose to nose with legendary racehorse Phar Lap, ride in a restored Luna Park Big Dipper carriage, step into workers' houses from the 1890s and hear the sounds of Melbourne's music scene. See how where you live evolved from traditional Kulin lands to the suburbs of today.
Museum Victoria’s Marvellous Melbourne online exhibition
Learn more about how the city was founded and the early days, the gold rush, the 1880s boom, the 1956 Olympics, and more in this fabulous online tour.
Further information
The Founding of Melbourne: The Race for History is a 14-page book telling the story of who founded Melbourne and why.
More resources
-
Koori Victoria: Collections and resources at the State Library of Victoria Opens in new window
-
The City of Melbourne's History of a city Opens in new window
-
Port Phillip Pioneers Group Opens in new window , representing descendants of Melbourne's pioneers
-
Foundation and Early History Opens in new window , from eMelbourne - The Encyclopedia of Melbourne, a Melbourne University School of Historical Studies online resource
-
Port Phillip District Opens in new window information about the early days of Melbourne and the Port Phillip District
Party pack
Free, fun Melbourne Day activities for teachers in classrooms, and parents at home, are available as downloads. See the Join in page.
Melbourne Day FAQs
All you need to know about Melbourne Day and the founding of our city: FAQs, facts and more, see the About page
