My Profile

Laila Ellmoos is a professional historian based in Sydney. She is a historian with the City of Sydney Council, and has been in this role since 2010. Laila is passionate about communicating history to a wide range of audiences through exhibitions, talks and the written word. She is a long-standing member of the Professional Historians Association of NSW & ACT and was its President in 2010–13. Laila is the author of three books including Our Island Home: a history of Peat Island, published in 2010. She’s a regular contributor to the Dictionary of Sydney, and was a regular presenter on Fbi Radio’s Scratching Sydney’s Surface in 2008–15. Before working at the City, Laila worked at the Government Architect’s Office; the Australian Broadcasting Commission (ABC); and La Trobe University. She has also worked as a heritage consultant and an academic researcher. Laila has a BA (Hons) in History from University of Sydney (1993) and a MA in Public History from UTS (2004).