The mayor presides over all council meetings; is the only councillor to not represent a specific Gold Coast electoral district;[2] and is the foremost representative of the Gold Coast City Council and its policies.

[1] The Gold Coast City Council reportedly maintains a budget of an estimated $1.83 billion annually,[3] among the highest of municipal governments in Australia.

[4] Under the Local Government Act 2009 (Qld),[1] Chapter 2, Part 1, the mayor of any city in Queensland, including the Gold Coast and except for Brisbane, has the following responsibilities in addition to their duty as a councillor: The Act further stipulates that "a councillor who is not the mayor may perform the mayor's extra responsibilities only if the mayor delegates the responsibility to the councillor,"[1] while also stating that "when performing a responsibility, a councillor must serve the overall public interest of the whole local government area.

Just four of those local government areas exist within modern day Gold Coast.

[12] Based on resident population, it is the second largest local government area in Australia and its council maintains a staff of over 2,500.