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Amid the pandemic, Labor Councillor Davyyd Griffiths said goodbye to his pub, the Royal Mail on Spencer St.
However, as one door closed, another opened. His experience as a publican inspired him to run for a spot at Town Hall, as he felt the City of Melbourne was missing someone who truly represented the small business community.
During his first term, Cr Griffiths was proud to be part of a council that made it easier for small businesses to operate.
The Business Concierge Program is chief among them. The program helps traders who are starting or expanding to navigate the complexities of permits, regulations, and other council-related matters – something Cr Griffiths had struggled with himself as a publican.
“If you owned 10 pubs, you probably had a government relations manager. But if you were running the till and scrubbing the floor yourself, there was no time to figure out council permits or apply for grants,” he said.
Now in his second term and serving as the environment portfolio lead, Cr Griffiths is focused on big-ticket items like delivering the North Melbourne Community Centre and progressing the expanded Boyd Community Hub in Southbank.
On climate action, he praised the council’s Power Melbourne initiative and reiterated the importance of sticking to long-term goals, including reaching net zero for council operations by 2030.
But Cr Griffiths also expressed concern that recent budget cuts could impact many of the programs the council runs, and said the City of Melbourne should be vigilant about the consequences of selling off assets such as Citywide.
“The listing of assets can only go on for so long,” he said. “It’s important that we keep control of the kinds of assets that enable us to do the work council is supposed to do.”
His approach to policy and advocacy is shaped by a varied and decorated career in education and public policy.
He grew up in Bendigo before moving to Melbourne to study teaching, but his time in the classroom was short-lived.
Following a stint in teaching, he went on to write education and health policy and worked as a ministerial advisor before becoming a publican. He says that his diverse background informs how he approaches governance.
“I always try to balance policy with people,” he told CBD News. “Budgets aren’t just numbers – they affect real lives. And that’s how I approach every decision.”
Cr Griffiths also brings a progressive voice to some of council’s more complex issues, including city safety and homelessness. He says it’s vital for the city to balance enforcement with compassion.
You can throw money at policing, or you can invest in addressing root causes like mental health and drug use. We need a balanced approach – and I’ll always advocate for the people most impacted
That advocacy extends to international students and gig workers – two groups he says are too often exploited.
“We bring these young people here, and we have a duty of care. That includes educating them about their rights and protecting them from wage theft or dodgy housing conditions,” he said.
The council is already supporting groups like The Couch at the Salvation Army, where students can learn about their rights in a safe environment. However, he believes it is an issue that still requires strong advocacy and continued support.
“When we talk about crime in the City of Melbourne, we’re probably thinking about a certain kind of crime and how that presents on the streets – but there are a number of ways that people feel unsafe,” he said.
Exploited workers and people experiencing food insecurity may feel unsafe too, and Cr Griffiths believes the council has a responsibility to care for those affected.
He said that when creating a policy or an initiative, it is easy to only see one side of the equation.
However, drawing on his experience from the many industries he has worked in, he said that he tried to always look at the other side of the coin, to reduce the risk of people being forgotten. •
