Mayor Teresa Harding was officially sworn in as the 51st Mayor of Ipswich in April 2020 and is the first female Mayor in the city’s 166-year history.
Mayor Harding brings to council more than 35 years of business, government and not-for-profit leadership, and more than 25 years’ experience in leading large teams and managing complex projects within the public sector.
Leading the city through a period of unprecedented growth, Mayor Harding has secured more funding from the Australian and Queensland Governments for the benefit of the Ipswich community than any other mayor in recent history.
Under Mayor Harding’s leadership, Ipswich’s economy is booming and has reached a new milestone, breaking through the $15 billion barrier for the first time in the city’s history.
A career highlight for Mayor Harding was working in the Department of Defence where she spent seven years working on the F111 fighter jets at RAAF Base Amberley. She was promoted to Director Strike Reconnaissance Systems Program Office and led the maintenance, and later decommissioning, of the fleet of F111 fighter jets. Mayor Harding was privileged enough to have had a flight in the F111 in 2010.
She holds a Master in Management, Post Graduate Diploma in Management, Post Graduate Certificate in Information Technology, Diploma in Small Business Enterprises, has completed the Australian Institute of Company Directors Course and is a graduate of the Australian Command and Staff course at the Australian War College.
Mayor Harding was named 2021 McKinnon Emerging Political Leader of the Year for her work in introducing transformational transparency reforms to improve the accountability of officials elected to local government.
Mayor Harding chairs the Council Ordinary Meetings and is on the Infrastructure, Planning and Assets Committee, Finance and Governance Committee, Community and Sport Committee, Economic and Cultural Development Committee, and Environment and Sustainability Committee.
Mayor Harding is the Ipswich Local Disaster Management Group Chair, Advocacy Advisory Committee Chair and Ipswich Defence Group Chair and is an Ipswich District Disaster Management Group member.
Mayor Harding chairs the Queensland Government Public Records Review Committee and is a member on the Host Mayors Advisory Group for the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games and the Council of Mayors South East Queensland.
A passionate lifelong volunteer, Mayor Harding is an active Rotarian with the Ipswich City Club, was the president of the Co-ordinating Organisation for the Disabled in Ipswich, has been on the P&C committee for her children’s schools and was the secretary and treasurer of a multicultural football club.
Mayor Harding is proudly the patron of the mighty Ipswich Jets, RSL Goodna Sub Branch Women’s Auxiliary, Ipswich Genealogical Society, Ipswich and District Rifle Club, Ipswich Pigeon Specialist Club, The Modern Game Club of Qld, Ipswich Legacy, Ipswich TPI Social Centre and Papua New Guinea Melpa Women’s Association of South East Queensland.
Mayor Harding and her husband Steven live in Raceview and have three adult children. Steven was born and raised in Ipswich and retired as a Warrant Officer after 34 years of service in the Royal Australian Air Force.